Gold reserves: Central banks around the world are actively increasing their gold reserves and Poland is one of them. Poland has reportedly taken lead over China in increasing gold reserves. Chinas Peoples Bank increased its gold reserves by 5 tons in February bringing the total increase to 10 tons in the first two months of this year. However Polands National Bank (NBP) purchased 29 tons of gold in February marking its largest monthly purchase since June 2019. Polands total gold reserves have now reached 480 tons informed Krishan Gopal a senior analyst at the World Gold Council (WGC). Last year too Poland was at the forefront of gold purchases when it bought 90 tons of gold. Meanwhile the central bank of the Czech Republic has also consistently increased its gold reserves over the past 24 months adding a total of 42.6 tons with a purchase of 1.7 tons in February. According to Shantel Sheeven head of research at Capitalight Research central banks are reducing their reliance on the US dollar and turning towards gold due to global uncertainty and instability in US trade policies. She estimated that gold prices could rise to $3200 per ounce. The share of gold in foreign exchange reserves has increased. Although China has slowed its gold purchases in recent months it still maintains a strong foothold in the market. Since 2022 the share of gold in Chinas total foreign exchange reserves has increased from 4% to 6% but experts say this is still significantly lower compared to central banks in developed countries. Bart Melick head of commodity strategy at TD Securities says that China and other countries may increase gold purchases to maintain the purchasing power of their reserves and to avoid sanctions from the USA and the European Union (EU). On the other hand some countries have also reduced their gold reserves. According to data from the Central Bank of Uzbekistan its gold reserves fell by 12 tons in February bringing total sales to 4 tons this year. However the World Gold Council stated that Uzbekistan is a gold-producing country so its gold reserves fluctuate from time to time. Experts believe that due to the increasing demand from central banks gold prices may remain above $3000 per ounce in the coming times.