Saturday, December 13, 2014

Court Marshall Talks Grand Ducal Finances

Pierre Bley on the far left (Photo: Charles Caratini / SIP)
Maréchal de la Cour Pierre Bley has given an interview to the print edition of Wort in which he talks about the finances of the cour grand-ducale and states that they have reached the limit when it comes to budget cuts. Bley warns that one shouldn't look at the money the Grand Duke receives too one-sided and explains that the money given by the state does not cover all the expenses of the official duties of the Grand Ducal Family. Thus the Grand Duke pays part of it out of his private pocket. However, Pierre Bley insists that the Grand Ducal fortune is nowhere as big as media reports suggest dismissing them as a fantasy.

Unsurprisingly, the court marshall did not go into any further details of the Grand Duke's private finances and the financial situation of the monarchy in general. In 2014, the cour diminished the operating costs, which make up around 10 percent of its total expenditure, by 10 percent. Monsieur Bley does not see any further potential to cut the costs adding that the staff costs, which will 8.1 million euros next year, make up 86 percent of the Grand Ducal budget. If they would want to save any more money, they would need to lay off some of their employees. The cour grand-ducale currently consists of around 100 staff members, only ten of which are detached and directly paid for by the state while all others have to be paid by the Grand Duke using his budget.

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