The Government has announced a series of austerity measures to cut down non-plan expenditure by 10 per cent. These include a ban on holding meetings in 5-star hotels and air travel by officials in executive class. According to a Finance Ministry circular issued yesterday, all ministries and departments have been asked not to buy new vehicles. The circular also said not to create new jobs or fill posts lying vacant for over a year. Aiming to restrict the fiscal deficit to 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2013-14, the Ministry has also directed that the size of delegations going abroad should be kept at the minimum. The circular came a day after Finance Minister P Chidambaram met Financial Advisors of various ministries to impress upon them the need for austerity.

Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tiwari said that austerity measures have been introduced to use the taxpayer's money constructively.