Business confidence boosted by exports

BUOYANT export markets, fuelled by a weaker pound, are helping to boost business confidence, according to the latest Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets business barometer, which is published today.

Two-thirds of businesses say they are now more optimistic about the overall economy than they were three months ago, while only one in ten are less hopeful. The resulting balance of 55 per cent is a significant rise of on January's balance of 37.

The largest improvement in confidence was in the industrial sector, where the balance of firms expecting increased activity rose by 11 percentage points.