This has become necessary to pay interest for accumulated domestic borrowings including the high interest payable for Treasury bonds and the drastic drop in 2023/2024 revenue, ministry records shows.

The Appropriation Bill shows that there is a 12 per cent increase in expenditure to Rs.6.53 trillion planned for 2024 compared to Rs.5.85 trillion in 2023.

Interest payments of Rs. 2.63 trillion alone remain more than one-third of total spending in 2024, reflecting an increase of 20 per cent from 2023.

The PAYE tax, initially projected to yield Rs. 68 billion in revenue for the government, was later revised to Rs.100 billion.

However, the latest figures as of the end of September indicate that the government has already collected Rs.107 billion through PAYE, achieving a 70 per cent compliance rate.

In stark contrast, the Personal Income Tax (PIT) fell significantly short of expectations. The government had projected Rs.115 billion in revenue by the end of last month, but the actual collection stood at a mere Rs.25 billion