Finance

Finance

Belgian king reins in expenses amid financial crisis

10 January 2012 07:19 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Belgium’s royal family will be tightening its belt, the palace said reported Monday, amid pressure on the highly indebted country to keep its finances in check, AFP reported.

The allowances that the members of the royal family receive will be frozen for 2012, while King Albert II will personally shoulder the expenses for some building projects that would have normally been paid for out of the public purse.

’The king has decided to offset the financial cost for the state ... by taking over equivalent expenditures related to (construction) work - normally paid for by the Belgian Buildings Agency - on the royal residences,’ the palace said in a statement.

The monarch had already used a similar approach in 2009, helping to cover the cost for renovations at the Royal Palace of Brussels ahead of an Asia-Europe summit.

The palace statement followed criticism from a Flemish lawmaker over what he believed would be an increase in the royal family’s cost to taxpayers, despite the financial crisis gripping Europe.