UK inflation is on track to rise above 18% for the first time in almost half a century next year as energy prices rocket, according to the investment bank Citigroup. Using forecasts for the retail energy price cap, which analysts expect to rise to close to £6,000 in April from £1,971 currently, Citi’s UK economist Benjamin Nabarro said in a note that the consumer prices index of inflation will peak at 18.6% in January. The last time inflation was higher that 18.6% was in 1976, after an oil supply shock that devastated the global economy and left the UK seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund. It last matched that level in 1980, according to Bloomberg figures. Nabarro warned that “the risks remain skewed to the upside” and […]