Lavish state banquets tip French presidency into the red, auditor says

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron's office racked up a multi-million euro budget overrun last year as it pulled out the stops on a lavish lobster dinner for Britain's King Charles and other state banquets, the public audit office said.

News of the presidency's spending jars with the outgoing government's message that France can ill afford its current levels of public spending, among the highest in the world in relation to the size of the economy.

Macron treated the King and his wife Queen Camilla last September to blue lobster, Bresse French poultry with mushroom gratin, and a selection of French and English cheeses during the state dinner in the famed Hall of Mirrors of the 17th century Versailles Palace.

That set the French state back 475,000 euros ($513,427), including 166,000 euros just for the catering, the Cour des Comptes said on Monday in a report on the finances of the French presidency.

Eager to convince New Delhi to buy more French submarines and fighter jets, Macron also held a state dinner in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's honour at the Louvre in July 2023, costing a cool 412,000 euros, the auditor said.

Banquets held at the president's Elysee palace cost far less, it added, noting that a state dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping in May cost only 138,000 euros.

The auditor also raised an eyebrow over the rising cost of presidential trips abroad, including the growing use of an Airbus A330 for international flights at a cost of over 23,000 euros per hour.

As a result of the higher spending on state receptions and official travel, the presidency's costs rose 6.5% last year to 117.2 million euros, leaving a budget shortfall of 8.3 million euros, the audit office said.

($1 = 0.9252 euros)

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas, Editing by William Maclean)