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Nepali cabinet decides to exercise austerity
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-01 11:42

KATHMANDU -- With the aim of reducing the cabinet expenditure, the first meeting of the newly expanded cabinet on Sunday decided to exercise austerity measures, state- run newspaper The Rising Nepal reported on Monday.

The meeting has decided that cabinet ministers will not be given allowances for travels that are not important and urgent.

Following the expansion of the nine member cabinet to a 24- member cabinet on Sunday, the cabinet meeting held at the office of cabinet council secretariat at Singha Durbar in Kathmandu decided to scrap the earlier facility of providing allowance to the ministers.

"We have decided to cancel the travel allowance of cabinet ministers and other allowances that were initially given in the case of emergency," Minister for Information and Communications Krishna Bahadur Mahara said on Sunday, emerging from the meeting.

Mahara, however, clarified that the cabinet would look into the demand for allowances of the cabinet members and release the budget subject to thorough verification.