Despite this, the country faced a substantial surge in its deficit, primarily due to increased interest costs.

The monthly tax collection reached 299 billion rupees in November. The country's current spending skyrocketed to 4,292.8 billion rupees, marking a 46% increase, with interest costs experiencing a significant jump.

Non-interest expenses rose by 14.5%. Notably, there were salary and pension increases in January 2024. Interest costs, which were already high at 1,772 billion rupees up to October, escalated further to 2,351 billion rupees by November 2023.

In Sri Lanka, interest costs tend to rise during a stabilization year following a currency crisis triggered by the central bank's rate cuts and liquidity injections