The UK's retailers appear to have brushed off the latest Bank of England interest rate hike as a closely watched survey of the sector revealed the new year's sales grew at its fastest pace in just over two years. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said 51 pct of retailers reported January sales volumes were higher than a year ago, while 21 pct said they were lower. The ensuing net balance of +30 pct is the highest since December 2004's +33 pct, and way above market expectations of +9 pct. Additionally, in the December survey, retailers had predicted only a +4 pct rise in January. This is the second month in a row retailers' fortunes have exceeded predictions. Meanwhile, the three-month moving average increased to its highest since January 2005 at +15 pct. CBI said these buoyant trading conditions are seen continuing in February, with the expected volume of sales balance in Feb seen at +22 pct, the highest since Sept 2004 when it was also +22 pct. "The pre-Christmas growth in year-on-year sales volume has carried convincingly through into January sales, said John Longworth, executive director of ASDA and chairman of CBI's retailing panel. He added that Jan's strong showing has echoed December's in that it was likely to have been driven by "very heavy discounting". "While shoppers have an appetite for the high street at the moment, and the prospects for February are promising, we have yet to see the full impact of recent interest rate rises on their resilience," he said. Going by sector, groceries, footwear and leather goods had a strong month, while speciality food stores did not fare as well. The survey was conducted between Jan 2-17, and polled 163 retailers.