Last year's top central bank buyer of gold may now turn into a seller

By Nora Redmond

The Polish central bank bought almost double the amount of gold as the next biggest central bank in 2025.

The top central bank buyer of gold is reportedly weighing a sale of the precious metal.

Adam Glapinski, the governor of Narodowy Bank Polski, has set out a proposal to generate up to 48 billion zloty ($13 billion) from selling the bank's gold reserves to fund defense spending, according to a Bloomberg report.

The head of the Warsaw-headquartered bank laid out the proposal as an alternative to the European Union's EUR150 billion Security Action for Europe program when he met with President Karol Nawrocki on Wednesday, the report said.

Per the Bloomberg report, Glapinski told Nawrocki that the Polish central bank could generate some of the money needed to fund defense by selling some of its approximate 550 metric tons of gold (GC00). The bank could then buy back its sold reserves later, the report said.

According to data collected by the World Gold Council, as of November 2025, the central bank was the largest reported official-sector gold buyer that year, having purchased 95 tons, almost double the amount of the next biggest buyer, Kazakhstan, with 49 tons.

Bullion was trading down 0.6% at $5,102 per troy ounce on Thursday morning. The metal has broadly slid since the U.S. first attacked Iran and the conflict began to spill into much of the rest of the region.

Gold nonetheless has soared by 75% over the last 52 weeks, benefiting not just from central bank but investor demand.

Poland's president has been looking for other options aside from the EU's loans-for-weapons program to finance Poland's proposed increase in its defense budget as the president and his associates worry that the Trump administration's opposition to the system may threaten its relationship with the U.S.

President Donald Trump has previously threatened to retaliate against European countries that access the program, which favors European defense companies. The EU has earmarked close to EUR44 billion ($51 billion) in funding for Poland, which would make it one of the biggest beneficiaries.

In August 2025, Poland approved a draft budget to increase its defense spending to 4.8% of its gross domestic product due to the threat from Russia.

-Nora Redmond

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-05-26 1013ET