Citigroup strategist sees gold hitting $3,500, silver rising above $100

Since the dramatic decline in gold and silver prices in April, the two precious metals have been rising steadily to $1,400 and $25, respectively. As some financial experts called the decade-long bull market a collapsing bubble, other analysts and strategists see a strong jump in bullion prices over the next few years.

In an interview with Bloomberg News (via Mining.com), Citigroup strategist Tom Fitzpatrick, who maintains a reported good track record, projected a surge in gold and silver prices due to the central banks’ adoption and continuation of lax monetary policies. Despite talk of the Federal Reserve tapering its quantitative easing, the yellow and silver metals will still make gains because of how immense central banks’ money-printing endeavors have grown.

For the short-term, according to Fitzpatrick, gold will increase to between $1,500 and $1,525 per ounce this year, which would be a gain of 6.3 percent from today’s prices. Furthermore, Fitzpatrick foresees silver outperforming its counterpart and the present gold/silver ratio will drop from the present 58/1.

Speaking in a separate interview with King World News, Fitzpatrick explained that the present correction in gold prices is akin to the one that transpired in the mid-1970s, a signal that bullion will move up after its drop.

“So we believe we are back into that track where gold is the hard currency of choice, and we expect for this trend to accelerate going forward,” said Fitzpatrick. “We still believe that in the next couple of years we will be looking at a gold price of around $3,500. As the gold/silver ratio plummets near 30, this would also suggest a silver price above $100.”

Marc Faber, the publisher of the Gloom Doom and Boom Report, sat down with Gold Silver Worlds and explained why investing in gold is a safe move. Essentially, he stated that money trading by central banks across the globe is the issue why gold is a secure acquisition.

“I think the money trading by central banks is the problem and the expected debt growth, credit growth by governments and also on the household sector level and the unfunded liability,” said Faber.