ISLAMABAD, Oct 21: The National Assembly’s Finance Committee recommended on Tuesday a drastic cut in foreign trips by parliamentarians.

A meeting chaired by Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza reviewed expenditures for 2008-09 and advised the officials concerned to allow only the most important tours.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tareen briefed the participants about the state of the economy and called for spending public money judiciously.

Expenditure by the Kashmir committee was discussed in detail and it was decided that the matter would be brought to the notice of its chairman Maulana Fazlur Rahman.

The committee decided to adopt austerity measures and strictly observe rules while incurring expenditure. It also decided to strictly observe merit in recruitment and promotion of secretarial staff.

Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Fouzia Wahab, Azeem Daultana, Asma Arbab Alamgir, Mohsin Ali Qureshi, Begum Ishrat Ashraf, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Saud Majeed, Malik Ibrar Ahmed, Khurram Dastgir Khan, Farkhanda Amjad, Bushra Rehman, Iqbal Muhammad

Ali Khan, Mufti Ajmal Khan, Noor-ul-Haq Qadri, Saeed Ahmed Zafar, and the finance ministry secretary attended the meeting.