The revenue deficit yawned at 119.7 billion rupees up 103.6 percent from last year and far away from a highly optimistic promise of almost balancing the current budget in 2012.
However the current account deficit was slightly lower than the 139.8 billion rupees recorded in May indicating that the gap between revenues and current spending was narrowing slightly.
Some of the cost increases come from higher interest rates, which could be paper losses which has no immediate impact on the economy as no cash flows are involved.
The finance ministry kept up a blistering pace of capital expenditure, spending 189.6 billion rupees up to May up 45.3 percent from a year earlier.
Though a large part of capex is financed by foreign loans, which does not pressure the domestic economy, there has been a tendency in recent months to borrow from banks to finance capital expenditure.
From mid 2011 Sri Lanka's economy came under pressure mainly from bank credit taken to finance energy price manipulations and central bank credit (printed money) used to manipulate interest rates.
The rupee fell from around 110 to 134 rupees over the past year.The overall budget deficit rose to 309.3 billion rupees in the first five months of the year, compared to a target of 468 billion rupees for the full year.
If the deficit continues unchecked at this level Sri Lanka could end up with a budget of 9.9 percent of GDP. However authorities are insisting that a deficit of 6.2 percent will be kept.
Last year a central government budget deficit target of 6.2 percent of GDP was kept by running off-budget energy subsidies though state enterprises to the tune of 1.75 percent of the economy.
The IMF has said that state energy enterprises could run an additional deficit of 1.0 percent.
Up to May the fiscal deficit implied by the increase in debt stock was 696 billion rupees, partly due to the effect of a steep depreciation.
