WARSAW, March 11 (Reuters) - Poland has a one-off chance to use unrealised profit on gold reserves to finance military spending, National Bank of Poland Governor Adam Glapinski said on Wednesday, adding that the government has expressed "zero interest" in the proposal however.
Last week, Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced a plan for financing defence equipment purchases using central bank reserves instead of funds from the European Union's Security Action for Europe (SAFE) programme, creating a new front in his ongoing conflict with the pro-EU government.
Warsaw was the biggest beneficiary of the EU's 150-billion-euro SAFE programme, but the nationalist opposition, which backs Nawrocki, says the plan would limit arms purchases from Warsaw's most important ally, the U.S., and see Brussels more involved in defence, which they oppose.
Glapinski said on Wednesday the unrealised profits of the NBP resulting from the increase in gold prices amounted to 197 billion zlotys ($53.75 billion).
Poland's liberal government has been calling on Nawrocki to sign a law creating a mechanism to spend 43.7 billion euros in European Union loans to boost the military.
($1 = 3.6650 zlotys)
(Reporting by Karol Badohal, Pawel Florkiewicz, Alan Charlish, writing by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; editing by Alexandra Hudson)
By Karol Badohal
