Not one to rest on his laurels, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boiko Borissov has cut the budget for laurels. Not only laurels, but all Cabinet entertainment expenses on flower arrangements and buffets. Spending on this, Borissov said, added up to 7000 leva a month, unjustified spending in these dire times.

It was not made clear in the media statement what would become of the customary coffee for visiting heads of state and government. Perhaps, on the government-issue silver tray, a gently-rocking, curled-up little slip, discreetly announcing the price in leva and euro? At least the policy should encourage visiting VIPs to pack a lunch box before heading for Sofia.

I agree with Borissov; no foreign dignitary should be snuffling canapés when (see below) no pensioner will be getting a little extra to help put some more morsels on the Christmas Eve table.

Given that the announcement was made in the closing days of October, this means by the end of 2009, the Cabinet should have saved about 14 000 leva and some change, lightening the burden on taxpayers to some degree.

Coincidentally, a Bulgarian newspaper said that its sums based on the draft of Budget 2010 showed that next year the average person will shell out 2317 leva on tax, medical and social insurance, so at least that average person need not worry about 84 000 leva in flowers and chicken wings being squandered.

On top of the previous announcement that there will be no Festive Season bonuses this year for pensioners and public servants, it seems that every little bit helps. Gone are the days that the now-defunct socialist government spent money on seaside photo-opportunities, pardon me, holidays for pensioners, and gone too are the days that one senior socialist suggested giving all Bulgarian pensioners mobile phones.

Striking to think that while these suggestions were being made, someone in that government must have been aware that the deficit figures were not quite accurate. Then again, the 13th cheque for pensioners used to be about 50 leva, which on an individual basis is not quite the equivalent of the largesse that was being poured into official feeding troughs.

If claims are correct, the Health Ministry will have to close hospitals because of Budget cuts; including mental hospitals. One alarmist report said that there would be people of questionable sanity out on the streets, a prospect most of us are prepared to live with only at election time. However, these reports coincided with Borissov being quoted as saying that he would be prepared to allow spending to help people who have sterility problems, a helpful gesture to the demographic future (whisper in the baby’s ear: "get rich before you reach pension age, kid").

All of this, in turn, coincided with a report in a Bucharest newspaper that Romanian president Traian Basescu had spent 1.5 million euro on handing out medals and decorations to 5000 worthies in the past three years. It is doubtful that the IMF will mention this when it begins its second review of the 20 billion euro it has lent Romania, but you never know.

It is also doubtful that Borissov will check up President Georgi Purvanov’s spending on handing out Stara Planina medals, because we know that the head of state can be rather defensive about his spending, as happened recently when opposition MPs tried to tell him that his trip to Australia was an unjustified waste of money. The Australia trip, Purvanov insisted, was in line with his foreign policy role and the budget voted him by Parliament.

Nice time of year for it too, pensioners, hospital patients and taxpayers in general may think as they rest assured that public money is being well spent. Possibly, however, they may think: That really takes the cake.