the expected effects resulting from our acquisition of BEA. The total estimated costs associated with the 2008 Plan are approximately $111 million and are primarily related to employee severance. The majority of these estimated costs are expected to be incurred over the course of fiscal 2009. Our estimated costs are preliminary and may be subject to change in future periods. We incurred restructuring expenses of $41 million in fiscal 2008, pursuant to the 2008 Plan (see Note 7 to Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information). Restructuring expenses in fiscal 2007 relate to Oracle employee severance and facility closures that were recorded in those periods and were a part of a restructuring plan initiated in the third quarter of fiscal 2006.



Fiscal 2007 Compared to Fiscal 2006:   Restructuring expenses decreased in fiscal 2007 as we initiated the majority of the actions pursuant to the Fiscal 2006 Oracle Restructuring Plan during fiscal 2006. Our management did not initiate any new plans to restructure our Oracle-based operations during fiscal 2007.

 

Interest Expense:

 

Fiscal 2008 Compared to Fiscal 2007:   Interest expense increased in fiscal 2008 due to higher average borrowings resulting from the issuance of $5.0 billion of senior notes in April 2008, a net increase of $500 million in additional senior notes outstanding for the majority of fiscal 2008 and our issuances of short-term commercial paper in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 and fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 (we repaid these commercial paper amounts during fiscal 2008).

 

Fiscal 2007 Compared to Fiscal 2006:   Interest expense increased in fiscal 2007 due to higher average borrowings in fiscal 2007 related to our $5.75 billion aggregate principal amount of senior notes issued in January 2006 (of which $1.5 billion was redeemed by us in May 2007), our $2.1 billion of commercial paper issuances (of which approximately $1.4 billion remained outstanding as of May 31, 2007) and our $2.0 billion of senior notes issued in May 2007.

 

Non-Operating Income, net:   Non-operating income, net consists primarily of interest income, net foreign currency exchange gains, the minority owners’ share in the net profits of our majority-owned i-flex and Oracle Japan subsidiaries, and other income including net gains related to our marketable securities and other investments.

 

Fiscal 2008 Compared to Fiscal 2007:   Non-operating income, net increased in fiscal 2008 primarily due to an increase in interest income from higher weighted average cash and marketable securities balances during fiscal 2008.

 

Fiscal 2007 Compared to Fiscal 2006:   Non-operating income, net increased in fiscal 2007 primarily due to higher interest income attributable to an increase in average interest rates (the weighted average interest rate earned on cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities increased from 3.04% in fiscal 2006 to 3.97% in fiscal 2007), partially offset by higher minority interests’ share in the net profits of i-flex and our Oracle Japan majority-owned subsidiaries.

 

Provision for Income Taxes:   The effective tax rate in all periods is the result of the