TEL AVIV (Reuters) - A man sustained serious burns after he poured flammable liquid on himself and lit it, said police, at a protest on Saturday in Tel Aviv against the economic policies of Israel's conservative government.

"From what I understand, he claimed money had been taken from him. Obviously he did it for financial reasons, though further details are not yet clear," said police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld. He said the man was aged around 40.

The Tel Aviv demonstration marked the anniversary of the erection of a student-led squatter camp in Israel's economic hub which was followed by a string of wider public campaigns against the cost of living in the country.

Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded with initiatives meant to ease the burden on Israel's middle class, such as cheaper housing and more extensively subsidized education, some protestors complain of government foot-dragging.

Rosenfeld said a few thousand people had turned out for Saturday's demonstration, compared to the hundreds of thousands who attended some of the biggest protests last year.

(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Sophie Hares)