The Thai government's allocation of 8.76 billion baht ($262 million) for the monarchy in the next fiscal year survived unprecedented calls for cuts by opposition lawmakers during parliamentary proceedings that concluded on Sunday, Reuters reported.

The questions over the royal budget in parliament’s lower house followed criticism of the monarchy and calls to curb its powers at youth-led protests last year.

The government lawmakers in parliament did not comment on opposition lawmakers calls for royal budget cuts.

The budget for royal agencies for the next fiscal year is for a 2.4% cut compared to the previous year.

It is the first reduction since all monarchy-related agencies were combined in 2017 after the succession of King Maha Vajiralongkorn.