Pakistan's Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, has promised to cut government expenses by half to offset the impact of economic sanctions imposed in response to its nuclear tests.

He said the austerity measures would apply to all administrative expenditure except development.

Mr Sharif said the decision to carry out the nuclear tests heralded what he called a new era of self-reliance for Pakistan and the budget cuts were a necessary part of that process.

Officials say they expect the country to lose one and a half billion dollars as a result of the sanctions.