EMEA Economic Perspectives "Gold valuation boosts reserves" Zadornova

Research evidence excerpt

EMEA Economic Perspectives "Gold valuation boosts reserves" Zadornova

Global Research

21 May 2026ab

EMEA Economic Perspectives Economics

EMEA EmergingGold valuation boosts reserves

Anna Zadornova

Economist

Rising gold prices drive central bank reserve dynamics in several CEEMEA anna.zadornova@ubs.com

+44-20-7567 4212

countries

Recent movements in official reserve data warrant a closer look at the role of gold within Gyorgy Kovacs

Economistreserve portfolios, as UBS Research recently highlighted here: Global Chart of the Day

gyorgy.kovacs@ubs.com

and here: Demystifying official sector gold flows. With gold prices up ~70% since the +44-20-7568 7563

start of 2025, the market value of official gold holdings has risen sharply. This increase

has translated into notable gains in reported reserves across several economies, Joni Teves

Strategist

broadening the policy options for the respective central banks, at least in theory. We

joni.teves@ubs.com

assess how much of the rise in gold reserves reflects higher prices, rather than active +65-6495 6851

accumulation, with a particular focus on economies where gold accounts for a

meaningful share of total official reserves. Within MSCI EM countries, Turkey stands out

with particularly high gold share in total reserves (c.65%), while Poland (c.30%)

Hungary (24%) and South Africa (c.24%) also keep a relatively high share of central

bank reserves in gold. We also highlight Kazakhstan, with c.78% of gold in reserves excl

the National Fund.

Turkey is a rare case of actively using gold in market operations; the rest prefer

to let it grow

Within this group, Poland and Kazakhstan have been steadily accumulating gold and

both are in top-3 central bank buyers 2026 ytd. Although even with active purchases,