US President Barack Obama’s state dinner in honour of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been the most expensive one he’s had arranged since 2009.
According to records from the US State Department Office of Protocol, Obama has spent $1.55 million on five of his state dinners since 2009. Of them, $572,187.36 was spent for the Manmohan Singh dinner at the White House on November 24, 2009, CBS News reported.
In response to a Freedom of Information request, to which it took the State Department 13 months to respond, CBS News has obtained the Office of Protocol’s expense calculations for the first five state dinners of the Obama administration.
Obama hosted a state dinner for Mexican President Felipe Calderon on May 19, 2010 at a cost of $563,479.92.
He held his third state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao at a cost of $412,329.73 on January 19, 2011.
The US president held the fourth state dinner on June 7, 2011 for German Chancellor Angela Merkel for which the cost was $215,883.36.
The fifth State Dinner was held on October 13, 2011 for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak costing $203,053.34, the CBS report said.