The Tsar allocated 1000 rubles per year for the maintenance of the scribes' office (all scribes received an equal share). The Tsar was advised to reduce the number of scribes by $50 \%$, and to increase the salary of the remaining scribes by $50 \%$. By how much will the Tsar's expenses for the scribes' office change in this case?
Let the tsar first reduce half of the scribes. Then his expenses will be halved. After increasing the salaries, they will increase by 1.5 times. As a result, they will amount to $1.5 \cdot 0.5 = 0.75$ of the previous amount, that is, they will decrease by $25 \%$.

## Answer

They will decrease by $25 \%$.