In an effort to reduce government expenditure, senior officers from the Finance Ministry can no longer travel on first-class flights.

They are now limited to business or economy class, according to the Treasury.

Said Treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah: "Even (for the) Finance Ministry, no more first-class travel. All the seniors officers (must) either go by business or economy class."

He was explaining how ministries are now trying to reduce their operating expenditures at a forum on budget revision in Putrajaya today.

He added that as part of the effort to cut costs, during meetings and events, free refreshments are no longer provided.

"Even for today's function, even though it's from 12pm to 2pm, no food is served. We only get (a bottle of) mineral water," he said.

All ministries have been informed that they need to cut down on their operating expenditures, he said.

This comes after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced the new measures under the Budget 2016 revision earlier in the afternoon.

The budget revision was forced by a slide in oil prices as the government now needs to make more budget cuts to adjust for a fall in revenue.

Chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa has urged civil servants not to believe rumours regarding the budget revision and to focus on carrying out the policies instead.

"Civil servants should continue to improve their own productivity and optimise the expenditures of ministries and departments," he said in a statement after Najib's announcement.

Meanwhile, Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said the central bank strongly supports the three percent cut from the employees' compulsory contribution to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

"In fact, three percent is very modest. It could have been higher," she said.

She also pointed out that the EPF cut is merely a short-term measure, expected to be in place until 2017 only.