The war hits the zloty
21:11
Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the NBP has already used its reserves twice to influence the zloty exchange rate, which drops sharply as a result of capital flight to the so-called safe havens – that is, to the dollar and the franc. From Wednesday, March 2, the Ministry of Finance is also in the game, which announces that it will now exchange foreign currencies directly on the market, not at the central bank.
The currency reserves of the National Bank of Poland and transfers from the European Union, which the government will exchange on the market, are now the most important tools that can be used to directly counteract the weakening of the zloty.
Securities definitely dominate reserve assets, for example in January they were worth €110.5 billion out of €144.3 billion of total reserves. For comparison, the NBP kept €15.4 billion in cash and in deposits.
An important part of the reserves is also gold, which the Polish central bank has been actively buying in recent years and bringing it home. In January, it had 7.4 million ounces or about 208 tons. The NBP's monetary gold was then worth €11.8 billion, now it is probably worth more because, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the gold became more expensive in the world markets.
