Poland’s EDO savings bonds vs US I Bonds: 22 years of margins over inflation
Short answer: In every one of the 266 monthly series of Poland's 10-year EDO savings bonds sold since October 2004, the fixed margin paid on top of Polish inflation was higher than the fixed rate of a US I Bond bought in the same month: 1.95% versus 0.46% on average. The I Bond fixed rate was 0% in 96 of those months, while the lowest EDO margin was 1.00%. For bonds sold in November 2026: EDO 2.00%, I Bonds 1.40%.
What are EDO bonds?
EDO is the 10-year retail savings bond of the Polish Treasury, sold every month at a face value of 100 zł. In current series the first year pays a fixed rate. From the second year the rate is Polish consumer inflation plus a margin that is set when the series goes on sale and never changes, much like the fixed rate of an I Bond. Interest compounds once a year and is paid out when the bond is redeemed. The Ministry of Finance sells EDO through two banks, PKO BP and Pekao, and the rules of each series are published in its issue letter.
How does the EDO margin compare with the I Bond fixed rate?
Both numbers are the part of the return that is promised on top of inflation for the life of the bond. Since October 2004 the EDO margin has ranged from 1.00% to 3.50%, while the I Bond fixed rate has ranged from 0.00% to 1.40%. In 266 of 266 months the EDO margin was the higher of the two.
What else is different?
| Poland: EDO | US: I Bonds | |
|---|---|---|
| Term | 10 years | 30 years |
| Rate in year one | fixed, set for each series (5.35% for November 2026) | fixed rate plus the inflation rate from the start |
| After year one | Polish CPI plus the margin (2.00% now), reset once a year | fixed rate plus US CPI-U, reset every six months |
| Inflation figure used | 12-month CPI announced by Statistics Poland in the month before each annual period starts | semiannual change in CPI-U |
| Deflation | negative CPI counts as zero, so the margin is still paid | the combined rate can fall below the fixed rate, but not below zero |
| Interest | compounded yearly, paid at redemption | earned monthly, compounded every six months, paid at redemption |
| Early exit | from 7 days after purchase; fee 3 zł per 100 zł bond, never more than the interest earned | from 12 months; before 5 years you lose the last 3 months of interest |
| Purchase limit | none in the issue letter | $10,000 per calendar year per Social Security Number or EIN |
| Tax | 19% Polish tax on interest, withheld at redemption; not charged inside the IKE and IKZE retirement accounts, which have their own withdrawal rules | federal income tax, exempt from state and local tax; can be deferred |
| Who sells them | Ministry of Finance through two banks, PKO BP and Pekao; online only to Polish residents | US Treasury through TreasuryDirect |
EDO rules from the issue letter of the November 2026 series (EDO1136, letter 108/2026); I Bond rules from TreasuryDirect, both read on 2 November 2026.
What does 1,000 zł in EDO become after 10 years?
For the 157 series whose rates are already known for all 10 years, sold from October 2004 to October 2017, 1,000 zł grows to between 1,443 zł (EDO0223, bought in February 2013) and 1,885 zł (EDO1027, bought in October 2017), before the 19% tax. These are nominal złoty; the spread mostly reflects how much Polish inflation there was during each bond’s life and which margin it carried.
Why is the margin not the whole story?
Three things separate the margin from what a saver actually keeps. First, timing: EDO resets once a year using inflation announced the month before, so in a fast inflation spike it catches up later than an I Bond, which resets every six months. Second, tax: the Polish 19% applies to all of the interest, including the part that only offsets inflation, which matters most when inflation is high. Third, currency: each margin sits on top of its own country’s price index, so this page compares what each bond promises to local savers, not returns in one currency. For the same comparison across more countries, see which countries sell inflation-linked savings bonds.
Where does the data come from?
The EDO series, rates and margins come from our open dataset of Polish retail treasury savings bonds: every series issued since 1999, compiled from the Ministry of Finance issue letters and checked against the Ministry’s own data, published as CSV under CC BY 4.0 (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.23208023). The I Bond fixed rates come from the TreasuryDirect rate table, read on 2 November 2026. The Treasury announces new I Bond rates on 1 May and 1 November; we update this page after each announcement.
Prepared by Rafał Błażewski for obrotomierz.pl, a Polish site that tracks the conditions of bank savings offers and treasury savings bonds. We describe how the bonds work and compare published rates; this is not investment advice.
Questions
Can a non-resident buy Polish EDO bonds?
Online sales are limited to Polish residents. The issue letter also allows sales to individuals at the branches of the two banks that sell the bonds, PKO BP and Pekao, and each bank sets its own account rules. For anyone earning and spending in another currency, the złoty exchange rate would matter more than the margin.
Does a higher margin mean EDO pays more than I Bonds?
Not directly. Each margin sits on top of its own country’s inflation, so the comparison says how much each bond promised above local price growth, not which one grows more in dollars. Taxes and the timing of inflation adjustments also change the real result.
Where can I check the numbers?
The EDO series, rates and margins are in our open dataset, published as CSV under CC BY 4.0 with a DOI. The I Bond fixed rates come from the table on TreasuryDirect. Both sources are linked at the bottom of this page.