The U.S. dollar is likely to continue rising until the current weakness in the global economy ends and the pace of recovery of global GDP begins to accelerate, analysts say Citigroup (NYSE:C) Global Markets Inc. Reasons for dollar appreciation are more than enough.

“We believe the dollar will peak only when global growth bottoms out,” Bloomberg quoted a report from a group of Citi strategists led by Jamie Fahey as saying. Until then, the U.S. currency will be the most reliable haven asset, they believe. We also see a direct correlation between dollar appreciation and inflation.

The ICE US Dollar Index which tracks the dollar’s performance against six major currencies, has soared nearly 18% since the beginning of the year, unseen since 1972.

Even the Fed’s possible decision to slow the pace of rate hikes may be necessary but not enough to persuade investors to sell dollars, Citi analysts said.

“The dollar is likely to peak only when the Fed starts cutting rates and global economic growth, excluding the U.S., begins to recover,” the experts wrote.

Earlier we reported that the dollar is stable against the euro and yen, the pound is getting cheaper.