By Elliot Gulliver-Needham Business confidence has reached its highest level since February 2022, as firms bet that falling inflation and interest rate cuts will boost the economy. Overall confidence rose in the Lloyds Business Barometer, which measures businesses’ confidence by assessing their trading prospects and optimism in the economy, rose to 44 per cent in January, up nine points from last month. Hann-Ju Ho, senior economist at Lloyds, noted this had been the strongest start to a year since January 2016. Every sector of the economy except retail saw confidence grow. Services increased 1…