Interest Expense. Interest expense increased $0.8 million to $38.1 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2020 compared to the same period in the prior year. The increase was primarily due to $2.8 million related to settlement payments associated with our interest rate swaps, $2.5 million related to a higher interest rate associated with our senior notes issued in July 2019 (“2027 Senior Notes”) and $1.4 million related to increased borrowing on our Amended Revolving Credit Facility. The increase was partially offset by a $6.3 million decrease as a result of a lower interest rate on our senior secured term loan credit facility (“Amended and Restated Term Loan Credit Facility”).
Income Taxes. The effective tax rate was 33.8% for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 compared to 27.9% for the first quarter of fiscal 2019. The effective tax rate for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 was higher than the same period in the prior year primarily due to the enactment of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act in March 2020 that allows us to carry back net operating losses and claim refunds in tax years with higher rates.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
We require cash principally for day-to-day operations, to finance capital investments (including possible acquisitions), purchase inventory, service our outstanding debt and for seasonal working capital needs. We expect that our available cash, cash flow generated from operating activities and funds available under our Amended Revolving Credit Facility will be sufficient to fund planned capital expenditures, working capital requirements, debt repayments, debt service requirements and anticipated growth for the foreseeable future. Our ability to satisfy our liquidity needs and continue to refinance or reduce debt could be adversely affected by the occurrence of any of the events described under “Item 1A. Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2020 and in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or our failure to meet our debt covenants. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is significant uncertainty surrounding the potential impact on our results of operations and cash flows. As a precautionary measure, we borrowed $600.0 million under our Amended Revolving Credit Facility during the first quarter of fiscal 2020 to improve our cash position and preserve financial flexibility. In May 2020, we repaid $300.0 million of outstanding borrowings using cash on hand. In addition, we have taken other steps to increase available cash and reduce costs, including, but not limited to, deferring or eliminating discretionary capital and operating costs, improving working capital by renegotiating payment terms with our vendors and landlords, and reducing labor costs as a result of the temporary store closures. We also launched additional omnichannel capabilities, including curbside pickup, same day delivery and in-app purchases, to enable us to operate more effectively in the current environment. Our cash and cash equivalents totaled $926.8 million at May 2, 2020.
Our Amended Revolving Credit Facility provides senior secured financing of up to $850 million, subject to a borrowing base. As of May 2, 2020, the borrowing base was $826.9 million, of which we had $89.2 million of outstanding standby letters of credit and $137.7 million of unused borrowing capacity. As of May 2, 2020, we are in compliance with all debt covenants.
In May 2020, following the completion of a strategic review of our Darice business in the United States, the Company adopted a plan to close the Darice wholesale operations (the “Plan”). The Company expects the closure process to be substantially completed by November 30, 2020. As a result, the Company expects the fiscal 2020 after-tax cost of implementing the Plan to be approximately $46 million to $52 million, consisting primarily of costs associated with the liquidation of inventory, employee-related expenses and costs associated with the write-off of intangible assets. In fiscal 2019, Darice’s net sales totaled approximately $80 million and they had no material impact on the Company’s operating income.
We had total outstanding debt of $3,276.3 million at May 2, 2020, of which $2,776.3 million was subject to variable interest rates and $500.0 million was subject to fixed interest rates. In April 2018, we executed two interest rate swaps with an aggregate notional value of $1 billion associated with our outstanding Amended and Restated Term Loan Credit Facility. The swaps replaced the one-month LIBOR with a fixed interest rate of 2.7765%.
In April 2020, we executed two interest rate cap agreements with an aggregate notional value of $2 billion associated with our outstanding Amended and Restated Term Loan Credit Facility. The interest rate caps have an effective date of September 30, 2020 and April 30, 2021, respectively. The interest rate caps have a maturity date of April 30, 2025