NEW DELHI: India ordered an immediate austerity drive on Thursday banning government meetings in five-star hotels, curbing foreign travel and halting the creation of new posts to help rein in a bulging deficit.

There will also be a ban on buying new vehicles, the finance ministry said in an official directive to all ministries, issued hours after figures showing that India had posted its worst economic growth performance in nine years.

A range of measures on “fiscal prudence and economy” have come into force with immediate effect, the ministry said, but analysts cautioned that far more effort was needed to put India's finances on a sound footing.

On foreign travel, the ministry said, the size of the delegation and the duration of the visit should be kept to an “absolute minimum”.

Holding of exhibitions, seminars and conferences abroad will be “strongly discouraged”.

The Congress-led government earlier announced tentative measures to check the fiscal deficit, which it aims to bring down to 5.1 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product in the current fiscal year from 5.76 per cent a year ago.—AFP