UK to avoid double dip next year - CBI

With a hike in VAT to 20% coming on 4 January and consumer confidence hitting record lows, ministers will be concerned the UK's fragile recovery could be derailed by renewed crises in the eurozone, writes the Independent. A sluggish property market and a drop in average house prices of 4% in 2011 completes the gloomy economic outlook, the paper writes. The CBI says the Bank of England will need to raise interest rates further and faster than previously thought, because of the impact of rising world commodity prices on inflation. The bank rate, which currently stands at 0.5%, is see...