Washington  - US president-elect Barack Obama has created a new position for his administration assigned to monitor the federal budget to cut wasteful or inefficient spending.

Obama announced Wednesday that he had selected Nancy Killefer, a Treasury Department official during the Clinton years, to fill the post of Chief Performance Officer.

"We committed to change the way our government in Washington does business so that we're no longer squandering billions of tax dollars on programmes that have outlived their usefulness, or exist solely because of the power of a lobbyist or interest group," Obama said.

Obama said on Tuesday that among his top priorities when he takes office on January 20 will be to freeze earmarks in the budget. Earmarks are spending added to the budget by members of Congress to fund special projects, usually in their home states or districts. (dpa)