By Peter Laca, Bloomberg
Central banks everywhere have added to their stockpiles of gold to help shield against external shocks in an increasingly uncertain world. But few regions are going about it with quite as much gusto and fanfare as Eastern Europe.
Ales Michl, governor of the Czech National Bank, recently inspected bars stashed in the Bank of England’s vault in London. His counterpart in Poland, Adam Glapinski, boasted about joining the “exclusive club” of the biggest gold owners. President Aleksandar Vucic repatriated Serbia’s gold to Belgrade.
For a region that’s been laid to waste by wars in the past and now has another one raging on its eastern flank, hoarding gold as a safe asset may be more prevalent than elsewhere. Indeed, Poland, the world’s largest gold buyer in the second quarter, has cited risks connected with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a factor in its strategy. The prospect of trade conflicts with the US as Donald Trump returns to the White House as well as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East have compounded those risks.
Michl, who has led Czech monetary policy since 2022, has been a proselytizer for gold purchases and the diversification of national reserves. His central bank now has total investment holdings worth almost half of the nation’s gross domestic product, with gold playing an increasingly important role.
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