Echelon Magazine - October 2023

In this issue

Turning Point (or Turn of the Screw)

Recall the Carol when the second of Marley's ghosts declared in anger, revealing two phantom children - offspring of humankind clinging to the otherwise jovial spirit: "This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased".
A caution that hauntingly chimes in today's Sri Lankan political landscape. While politicians are beginning to champion tax and utility reductions for electoral gains, the malignant tumour remains the same: misguided policies that nurture a dependent, entitled, and irresponsible citizenry.
Without question, Sri Lanka stands at a crossroads. The IMF, World Bank, HSBC, and Fitch Ratings highlight the nation's emergence from financial despair. Inflation rates dropped from 69.8% in September 2022 to under 2% a year later. This decline, coupled with the Central Bank's swift policy actions and the bolstering of foreign reserves, marks a commendable financial pivot. Fitch also removed 15 banks from its Rating Watch Negative list and assigned them Stable Outlooks.
Nevertheless, the shadow of past economic missteps, like the 2019 tax cuts, lingers. These miscalculations escalated the national debt and sparked an economic downturn, leading to job losses and increased poverty. While the IMF's recent 48-month Extended Fund Facility brings optimism, navigating future uncertainties demands vigilance and well-strategized reforms to reverse decades of misguided economic policies. Come elections in 2024, how will Sri Lanka decide? Will we persevere with painful yet crucial reforms or unravel them and risk all? The danger of ignorance is clear: unchecked, it paves the way to downfall.

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.