There are lots of reasons to bet against the gold price rally at the moment but one key reason not to, according to Longview Economics CEO Chris Watling.

Gold prices have recently hovered at seven-year highs after the U.S. killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, which spiked tensions between Washington and Tehran in the Middle East and forced investors into traditional safe-haven assets.

Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" Friday, Watling cited one of the reasons to "short" the precious metal was the beginnings of a cyclical recovery in the global economy.

"What really determines the gold price is typically real interest rates, Fed funds interest rate expectations and things like that, and I think we can price out a cut from the Fed funds curve, I think we're going to get TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities) yields moving up this year, and actually it's quite a consensus 'long' now, so all of that is a good reason to sell it," Watling said. Shorting an asset refers to a trading strategy where investors bet that its price will fall, rather than rise.

Gold is often used as a hedge against inflation, in other words, to protect the decreased purchasing power of a currency resulting from its loss of value due to rising prices.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has halted its cutting cycle, keeping its benchmark overnight lending rate in a range between 1.5% and 1.75% in December and projecting no moves in 2020. The central bank had cut rates three times in 2019.