Barrick Gold chairman: Gold prices 'more likely' to go up

The founder and chairman of the world's largest gold producer has claimed today (January 29th) that gold prices are bound to rise to record highs as concerns over the dollar are growing, Reuters reports.

Gold investment - particularly through purchases of physical gold in the shape of bullion - has been on the rise in recent months, with the price of yellow metal soaring by 17 percent since October.

Now Peter Munk, head of Barrick Gold Corporation, has expressed his belief that the greenback is due such a slump that central banks may even switch from dollar holdings to gold, thus potentially tripling its price.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, he told the news provider: "Gold is at record levels in every currency except dollars. Even within dollar terms it is within a few percentage points of an all-time high at a time when all the other major commodities are falling.

"Whether it's the currency effect or a reaction to a feeling of uncertainty, gold in my opinion is more likely to go up than down."

A similar view about the outlook for the dollar was stressed last week by John Meyer, an analyst at UK stockbroker Fairfax, who claimed that investing in gold is a wise strategy as prices will rise in the coming months.

"Longer-term, the stimulus plans by the United States and printing of money are likely to lead to devaluation of the dollar which will lift gold prices," he told Reuters.

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