pre_text: 3.4 FINANCIAL EXPENSE (1) Fiscal 2018 was restated to reclassify results from Cogeco Peer 1 as discontinued operations. For further details, please consult the "Discontinued operations" section. Fiscal 2019 financial expense decreased by 5.4% mainly due to: • the reimbursement at maturity of the Senior Secured Notes Series B on October 1, 2018; • the reimbursements of $65 million and US$35 million under the Canadian Revolving Facility during the second quarter of fiscal 2019 and of US$328 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2019 following the sale of Cogeco Peer 1; and • early reimbursement of the US$400 million Senior Unsecured Notes during the third quarter of fiscal 2018 which resulted in a $6.2 million redemption premium and the write-off of the unamortized deferred transaction costs of $2.5 million; partly offset by • higher interest cost on the First Lien Credit Facilities resulting from the full year impact of the financing of the MetroCast acquisition; and • the appreciation of the US dollar against the Canadian dollar compared to the prior year.
table: Years ended August 31, 2019 2018 (1) Change
table: (in thousands of dollars, except percentages) $ $ %
table: Interest on long-term debt 176,798 179,680 (1.6)
table: Net foreign exchange gains (2,744) (2,134) 28.6
table: Amortization of deferred transaction costs 1,836 1,884 (2.5)
table: Capitalized borrowing costs (690) (2,074) (66.7)
table: Other 302 8,100 (96.3)
table: 175,502 185,456 (5.4)
question: Analyse this data from a financial earnings document. What was the increase / (decrease) in the interest on long-term debt from 2018 to 2019?