Echelon Magazine - May 2023

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DDR: Handle with Care

According to a December 2021 IMF blog post co-authored by Peter Breuer, the current IMF Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and two other IMF staffers, restructuring domestic debt is like surgery: You only do it if you must, and you avoid it if it might do more harm than good!
Emerging markets have seen domestic debt increase from 31% of the total sovereign debt to 46% over the past 20 years; that means restructuring domestic debt is often an inescapable, or inevitable, eventuality for a country mired in a debt crisis. Restructuring external debt (altering the terms, such as the amount or repayment period) requires deft negotiation skills. Negotiations could last several years, denying access to international capital markets for the duration.
On the other hand, domestic debt restructuring (or DDR) is very different. It is far easier because a government can alter the terms by changing domestic laws. By doing so, they can avoid far costlier consequences of external restructuring, like losing access to international capital markets. However, the downside is that domestic debt tends to be held by local creditors - banks and superannuation funds like the EPF - and the sovereign malaise spreads to the rest of the economy.
DDR can surely help negotiations with external creditors, but securing the stability of the domestic economy and its financial system remains the state's prerogative, argue the IMF staffers. In other words, DDR may be necessary, but not if it causes more problems. The Sri Lankan government recently called for voluntary domestic debt optimization.

Echelon Magazine Description:

Intelligent Storytelling

The one thing that will define the Echelon magazine will be the quality of the storytelling. Echelon,published monthly, will cover in depth Sri Lanka’s most successful businesses, examine their winning strategiesand profile their leaders in immersive stories. Great stories are also never limited to words, and our approach includes rich photography, bold graphics and leading edge design which together will make for a compelling read.

But business doesn’t start and end in a boardroom;it extends to the golf club greens, to international travel and to pursuits that blurthe lines between commercial venture and sheer passion. The Echelon team will present the best in business and lifestyle coverage that will appeal to an exclusive and affluent readership: an otherwise hard to reach demographic.

Content will be developed by one of the most experienced and proven teams of editors, financial journalists, photographers and designers in the country.This team has already raised the bar for powerful and expertly crafted business news. Shamindra Kulamannage, will lead the editorial team.

The reputation of Echelon is being built on the separation between editorial and advertising. However we are also looking for the most creative and impactful new formats that can be applied in our magazines, iPad app as well as website to help our clients reach our audience. We are flexible and creative and we will have a solution for every single advertiser who wants to reach our audience.

We are passionate about creative results and about working with our advertisers to help them create bespoke multi platform creative solutions with our in house creative team and of course our sales team.

Echelon will be a great place to show off the products and capabilities of our clients because they will be surrounded by an editorial product that is expertly crafted, full of integrity and intelligence.