Poland world’s biggest gold buyer in Q2, Q3

Poland was the world’s largest gold buyer in the second and third quarters of 2024, and central banks across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are enlarging their gold reserves at an unprecedented pace, according to World Gold Council data. The trend has positioned CEE as a major global buyer of gold, and a contributor to its overall rise in price this year.

Hungary, Serbia and Czechia are likewise buying up gold to hedge against inflation, war and global market volatility, factoring in the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and anticipating potential trade wars that may occur after US president-elect Donald Trump takes office. 

Poland aims to make gold one-fifth of national reserves

Poland’s central bank chief Adam Glapinski celebrated the country’s entry into the ranks of the world’s top ten bullion stores, overtaking the UK. By the end of September Poland had increased its gold holdings to 420 tons, roughly half the reserves of India or Japan. 

Poland also brought 100 tons home from the Bank of England in 2019, as Glapinski said the country has “around a dozen locations… where our reserves are safe.”

“Gold will retain its value even when someone cuts off the power to the global financial system, destroying traditional assets based on electronic accounting records, Glapinski said, adding that “Gold is free from credit risk and cannot be devalued by any country’s economic policy.

“We are entering the exclusive club of the world’s biggest gold owners,” Glapinski added, revealing that he aims to raise gold’s share of Poland’s total national reserves to 20%, up from the present ratio of around 15%.

Czech bullion reserves nearly half of GDP

Czechia’s central bank holds USD 150bn in foreign reserves, which equates to almost half of the country’s GDP, ranking among the highest reserve-to-GDP ratios globally. 

The Czech National Bank plans to double the country’s gold reserves to 100 tons over the next 3 years to diversify investment and reduce volatility, Czech central bank Governor Ales Michl said. 

The move will further increase the bullion stores that have grown 5-fold since he became Czechia’s central bank governor in 2022. Although Michl has received criticism for the purchases, he defended them as part of a long-term process to mitigate price volatility.

Hungary’s gold stock at record high

Hungary has CEE’s highest per capita gold reserve, having risen to a record level of 110 tons, the Hungarian national bank (MNB) announced. 

The MNB increased the gold reserve more than 1,000% to 31.5 tons in 2018, then tripled this to 94.5 tons in 2021. 

By now increasing the gold reserve to 110 tons, the MNB continued the gold purchase process that started in 2018, it said in September. Hungary’s per capita gold reserve is now 0.37 ounces, the MNB added.

Serbian PM sees gold as security measure

In 2021 Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, in power since 2012, ordered the repatriation of Serbia’s gold reserves, pledging to buy additional bars with “any surplus funds” to ensure the reserves remain “safe and secure in our hands”. 

Under the 12-year tenure of Vucic ally Serbian central bank Governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic 2012, Serbia’s gold reserves have tripled to 48 tons. Meanwhile, Serbian authorities have relocated their gold holdings to Belgrade citing storage costs and security. 

Tabakovic told news agency Bloomberg that gold is a good investment “in times of global turbulences, especially in geopolitical conflicts and periods of high inflation (and) in recent years we’ve seen both factors at play”.