Asking Union Ministers to take austerity measures in view of rising oil prices, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday recommended major cuts in their expenses, especially on foreign travel.

Noting that the "huge burden imposed on our financial resources due to the continuous rising trend in global oil prices and our dependence on import of crude", he said: "I am, therefore, writing to ask you to severely curtail expenditure on air travel, particularly foreign travel, except in cases where it is deemed to be absolutely necessary."

In a letter to his ministerial colleagues, Singh said while "we need to explain to the people the constraints and reasons that have compelled the government to introduce these measures" to hike petro product prices, it was simultaneously "equally necessary for us to introduce the utmost economy and in our own administrations and establishments."

He said it could not be denied that there was "substantial scope" for reducing expenditure on travel and administration.

"As we ask the people to bear some of the financial burden of our oil imports, it is not only necessary from the resource conservation point of view but also as a moral duty to cut out all wasteful expenditure in our own establishments," Singh said.