Echelon Magazine - April 2024

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Protests and political blame games often follow IMF programmes, as governments fault the IMF for imposing harsh measures, while opposition parties capitalize on public anger. Unfortunately, this political theatre hampers necessary long-term reforms, trapping countries in a cycle of instability - Sri Lanka has gone to the IMF 17 times.

The ongoing IMF programme does focus on mitigating the impact of reforms on vulnerable groups, which include expanding social safety net programmes and improving targeting to ensure aid reaches those in need.

Ultimately, the responsibility for implementing social safety net reforms lies with the government, not the IMF, and this is something the opposition lawmakers can build consensus with the government - at least to get this one thing done. But no: the factious and fractious politicians must do what's best for them.

If it pursues reforms, the next government will likely have to stamp out public dissent or meet its demise before another aragalaya. The main parties contesting the elections have at some point resorted to ruthless violence to defend what they believe is right. The only way to avoid a downward spiral is to run on a ticket of painful reforms - a system change precipitated by honest reflection on what needs to get done, not what is ideal.

IMF or no IMF, foreign debt or no foreign debt, our tax revenue cannot sustain the bloated public sector, fill the loss-making chasm of state-owned enterprises, pay subsidies and transfers, and service debt. Denying past presidents their pensions and tracing wealth in safe havens for repatriation will not solve the fundamental economic problems. Growth cannot come without building infrastructure, expanding our productive and skilled workforce and compelling our businesses to be enterprising and competitiv

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.