Narodowy Bank Polski

The National Bank was established on 15 January 1945 by decree of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland, three days before its relocation from Lublin to Warsaw. It also claims the legacy of two previous central banks, both named Bank of Poland (Polish: Bank Polski): the First Bank of Poland was founded in Warsaw in 1828 by Prince Franciszek Ksawery Drucki-Lubecki under the government of the Kingdom of Poland, and the Second Bank of Poland, founded in 1924, was the central bank of the Second Polish Republic which went into exile during World War II.

The Bank of Poland's gold reserves of Poland were transferred in 1939 to Romania, the United Kingdom and Canada. In November 1946, following the cancellation of Poland's wartime debt, the larger part of prewar gold reserves were returned to new communist authorities. In 1947, the gold deposited in Romania in 1939 was returned, while the former Bank of Poland itself was closed down and finally in 1952 absorbed by the newly created Narodowy Bank Polski.

The NBP was one of a handful of banks operating in Poland's postwar planned economy and single-tier banking system. It had a monopoly for currency, credits and accumulation of savings. Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności (PKO) served private accounts, while Polska Kasa Opieki (PeKaO) and Bank Handlowy focused on international transactions and agricultural credit was operated by Bank Rolny, succeeded by Bank Gospodarki Żywnościowej (BGŻ) in 1975. A long-term credit bank, Bank Inwestycyjny, was terminated in 1970s with its operations folded into PKO, Bank Handlowy and the NBP. The NBP had no independence from the government, and its president held rank as undersecretary of state at the Finance Ministry. In 1975, the branch network of PKO was integrated into the NBP.

In the 1980s, Poland started moving away from the communist template towards a more commercialized banking system. New legislation in 1982 separated the NBP from the Ministry of Finance and gave a role to the Sejm in appointing its president. In 1987, Bank Rozwoju Eksportu (BRE) was established to promote exports in competition with PeKaO and Bank Handlowy. In 1988, PKO was fully separated from the NBP. The end of the single-tier system came in early 1989, as the NBP's non-monetary credit operations were spun off into nine regional banks which took over around 400 NBP branches and would form the backbone of Poland's new commercial banking sector. These were, by decreasing size of total assets in the mid-1990s: Powszechny Bank Gospodarczy (Bank PBG) in Łódź; Bank Śląski in Katowice; Powszechny Bank Kredytowy (Bank PBK) in Warsaw; Bank Przemysłowo-Handlowy (Bank BPH) in Kraków; Bank Zachodni in Wrocław; Wielkopolski Bank Kredytowy (Bank WBK) in Poznań; Bank Gdański in Gdańsk; Pomorski Bank Kredytowy (Bank PBKS) in Szczecin; and Bank Depozytowo-Kredytowy (Bank BDK) in Lublin.

The structure and functioning of the Narodowy Bank Polski are regulated by article 227 of the Constitution of Poland of 1997 and the Narodowy Bank Polski Act of the same year. The president of the NBP is appointed by the Sejm, at the request of the president of the Republic of Poland, for a term of six years. The NBP president is responsible for the organisation and functioning of the Polish's central bank. The same person cannot serve as president of the NBP for more than two terms of office. Apart from his function as the superior of the NBP staff, he is also the chairman of the Monetary Policy Council, the NBP management board and the Commission for Banking Supervision. He is also responsible for representing Poland in international banking and financial institutions.

In 2019, the average employment at the National Bank of Poland on full-time amounts was 3312 people.