As gold rallies, silver follows suit

As domestic prices of gold continue to hit record highs, the gold craze is now leading to a surge in investments in silver banking and silver bars.

According to industry data Sunday, the balance of gold banking accounts at the three largest banks in South Korea — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, and Woori — stood at 1.513 trillion won ($1.06 billion) as of Thursday, surpassing the 1.5 trillion won mark for the first time.

Sales of silver bars at the four major lenders — the largest three banks plus NH NongHyup — reached 4.27 billion won in September, exceeding the 4 billion won mark for the first time.

The cumulative silver bar sales for this year have reached 10.46 billion won, more than 13 times the total annual sales from last year.