A Polish State Treasury savings bond is simply a loan you give to the state. You buy a bond for PLN 100, and after a set time the state returns your PLN 100 plus interest. It is guaranteed by the State Treasury, so the risk of losing your money is minimal – lower than with any bank or fund.

It is not a product that will make you rich. It is a product designed to stop inflation from eating your savings. In that role it works very well. (If you live outside Poland, many countries offer similar products – such as I Bonds in the US or index-linked savings certificates in the UK – and the logic below applies to them too.)

How it works in practice

• One bond costs PLN 100. You can buy any number – starting from PLN 100.
• You buy them from PKO Bank Polski or Bank Pekao – online (obligacjeskarbowe.pl links to both) or in a branch. You need a free registration account.
• A new series comes out every month with interest set by the Ministry of Finance. The interest on a series you have already bought does not change with later series.
• You pay 19% tax on the interest (the so-called "Belka tax"), unless you buy the bonds within an IKE or IKZE retirement account.
• You can redeem them early, but you then pay a small early redemption fee – from a few dozen groszy to a few złoty per bond, depending on the type. The fee can never exceed the interest earned, so you will not lose the capital you put in.
• When a bond matures, you can swap it for a new one for PLN 99.90 instead of PLN 100 – a small loyalty bonus.

Types of bonds (October 2026 offer)

Bonds fall into three groups, depending on how interest is calculated.

Fixed rate – you know in advance how much you will earn

• OTS – 3 months, 2.00%. A short-term "parking place" for money.
• TOS – 3 years, 4.40% for the whole period. Interest is added to the capital every year (capitalisation) and paid at the end.

Variable rate – depends on the NBP rate

• ROR – 1 year. 4.00% in the first month, then each month the NBP reference rate (currently 3.75%). Interest paid monthly.
• DOR – 2 years. 4.15% in the first month, then the NBP reference rate + 0.15 percentage points. Interest paid monthly.

Inflation-linked – protects you against rising prices

• COI – 4 years. 4.75% in the first year, then inflation + 1.5 percentage points. Interest paid out every year.
• EDO – 10 years. 5.35% in the first year, then inflation + 2 percentage points. Interest is added to the capital every year and paid at the end – compound interest at work.
• ROS – 6 years (5.00%, then inflation + 2) and ROD – 12 years (5.60%, then inflation + 2.5). These are family bonds – only people receiving the 800+ child benefit can buy them, up to the amount of benefit received.

Inflation-linked bonds use the annual inflation rate published by Statistics Poland for the month falling two months before the start of the new interest period. So if inflation rises, the interest rate for the following year rises too.

How much can you earn – an example

Say you buy 100 COI bonds, investing PLN 10,000.

• In the first year you get 4.75%, which is PLN 475 in interest. After 19% tax, PLN 384.75 reaches your account.
• If inflation in the following year is, say, 3%, the interest rate is 3% + 1.5% = 4.5%. Interest: PLN 450, after tax PLN 364.50.
• If inflation rises to 5%, the rate will be 6.5% – and so on.

This is only an illustration – nobody knows what inflation will be in a year or two. But the mechanism is simple: you always earn a fixed margin above inflation, so the purchasing power of your money grows (before tax).

Which to choose? A simple cheat sheet

The most important question is: when will you need the money?

• Within a year (holidays, car insurance, renovation in a few months) → ROR or OTS. You do not lock up your money for long and you get roughly the NBP rate.
• In 2–4 years (a deposit for a flat, a car) → COI or TOS. COI protects against inflation; TOS gives certainty – you know exactly what you will get.
• In 10 years or more (retirement, your children's future) → EDO, and if you receive 800+, also ROS or ROD. The long period and capitalised interest give the most here.
• Emergency fund → partly ROR (easy to cash in), the rest in a savings account. Long-term bonds can be redeemed early, but you lose part of the interest, so do not treat them as your first line of defence.

You do not have to pick just one. A popular strategy is a "ladder": some money in ROR, some in COI, some in EDO – so that different amounts mature at different times.

The Belka tax: how to avoid it legally

You pay 19% tax on bond interest. There is an exception: if you buy bonds within an IKE-Obligacje or IKZE-Obligacje account (special retirement accounts run by PKO BP), once you meet the conditions you pay no tax at all (IKE – withdrawal after age 60) or a flat 10% (IKZE – withdrawal after age 65), and IKZE contributions can also be deducted from your income tax. Both accounts have annual contribution limits. This is a solution for money saved for retirement, not for the next few years.

What to watch out for

• Bonds are not an instant-access account. Early redemption is possible but costs part of the interest – match the term to your goal.
• The first year is not the whole story. For inflation-linked bonds, the margin above inflation matters, not the starting rate.
• The ministry changes the offer every month. Before you buy, check the current issue terms at obligacjeskarbowe.pl.
• Do not invest money you might need tomorrow. Emergency fund first, bonds second.

In short

• Polish savings bonds start at PLN 100 at PKO BP or Pekao and are guaranteed by the state.
• Short term: ROR/OTS. Medium term: COI/TOS. Long term: EDO (and with 800+, also ROS/ROD).
• Inflation-linked bonds always pay a margin above inflation – 1.5 points for COI, 2 points for EDO.
• The 19% Belka tax can only be avoided within IKE/IKZE.

Educational material, not investment advice. Interest rates according to the Ministry of Finance offer for October 2026 – check current terms before buying.

Sources: SII – October 2026 savings bond offer, obligacjeskarbowe.pl – official website. Photo: Unsplash.