France‘s court of auditors said the Louvre, home to the world famous Mona Lisa, was inefficient because two thirds of its 1,800 staff were public employees and it was forced to hand almost half its earnings to the state. Its report found that many staff took lengthy breaks and worked fewer hours than the legal minimum, according to details of the study leaked by a local newspaper.

Funds at the Paris museum were drained by its obligations to help finance state-owned museums, forcing the Louvre to keep a quarter of its rooms closed, it added. Reuters