Friday newspaper round-up: BoE, BoE, BoE

The Bank of England has done everything possible under the constraints of monetary orthodoxy to cushion the Brexit shock. It is now up to the British government to save the economy, and the sooner the better. Monetary policy is close to the limits. The Bank’s pre-emptive £170bn stimulus package is brave – and unquestionably the right thing to do in these dramatic circumstances – but it is not an economic bazooka and much of the boost will leak into asset price inflation. – Telegraph

London’s historic Baltic Exchange has moved a step closer to a sale with bidder Singapore Exchange offering a deal to owners that will see them receive almost £90m for ceding ownership of the global shipping data hub. Singapore Exchange (SGX), owner of the South East Asian bourse, has said it plans to offer £77.6m in cash for the business which is owned by its 400 members and was established in 1744. – Telegraph

The biggest offshore windfarm developer in Britain has said the country can meet its future energy commitments without the £18bn Hinkley Point C nuclear project. Henrik Poulsen, chief executive of Dong Energy, said wind turbines could be built on time and on budget, giving the UK a reliable source of power if combined with output from new biomass or gas-fired plants. – Guardian

Faced with the shock to the economy of the Brexit vote, the Bank of England had a choice. It could sit tight and hope the storm would quickly blow over, or it could assume the worst and act accordingly. Perhaps understandably, Threadneedle Street has decided to go for the all-action approach. It was slow to react to the great recession of 2008 and 2009, and was not going to be accused of making the same mistake twice. The risks of doing nothing were higher than the risks of providing oodles of fresh stimulus. – Guardian

What at a shock: the unreliable boyfriend has actually done something he said he would. You do wonder if he’s feeling all right. Even Mark Carney didn’t have much choice this time. The Bank of England governor only got away with misleading everyone (again) last month by pointing out that the nine-strong MPC expected “monetary policy to be loosened in August”. So doing nothing in this post-Brexit world wasn’t an option, unless he fancied turning the Bank into some sort of comedy club. The only real debate was how loose the MPC might hang. The answer? Well, loose-ish. – The Times

They have the spa, the doctor’s surgery and the library; what more could a wealthy pensioner want from a retirement home? Well, how about a tunnel to Harrods? On Pavilion Road in Knightsbridge, planners have approved a £200m luxury retirement home on a site that has an underground tunnel linking it to the upmarket department store less than 100m away. The seven-storey development of 34 apartments will be among the UK’s most expensive retirement homes and is part of a growing industry catering for ageing, rich baby-boomers. – Financial Times