New pay scale for govt employees may go before cabinet Monday

The Cabinet of Bangladesh is expected to review a draft proposal for a new pay scale for government employees on Monday, following recommendations from a high-level committee led by Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani. The proposed changes aim to address salary stagnation that has persisted for over a decade, with officials indicating that the government may approve the draft and initiate the official notification process within one to two weeks if endorsed.

The draft pay scale has been developed by a 10-member committee formed on April 21 to finalize recommendations for updating the existing salary structure for civil servants. This move comes nearly 12 years after the last major pay revision under the 8th Pay Commission and follows the submission of a report by the 9th National Pay Commission in January 2025. The commission, chaired by former Finance Secretary Zakir Ahmed Khan, had proposed significant increases in basic salaries and allowances, ranging from 100% to 140%, to better reflect inflation and the rising cost of living.

Under the proposed changes, the minimum basic salary would rise from Tk 8,250 to Tk 20,000, while the highest basic salary would increase from Tk 78,000 to Tk 160,000. The commission estimated that implementing these changes would require an additional Tk 1.06 trillion annually, on top of the current Tk 1.31 trillion spent on approximately 1.4 million government employees and 900,000 pensioners. However, the Nasimul Ghani committee did not endorse the full proposed increases, instead suggesting a two-stage implementation over two years—basic salaries from July 1 of the current financial year, followed by allowances the next year.

Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury had previously announced in the national budget speech on June 11 that the new pay structure would be rolled out in phases beginning July 1, acknowledging that the cost of living had risen substantially due to inflation during the nearly 11 years since the last pay revision. The current financial year’s budget allocates Tk 141,434 crore for salaries and allowances, a significant increase of Tk 54,572 crore from the previous year’s revised allocation.

In response to concerns about funding, the finance minister stated that the government could not afford to implement the full pay increase at once, citing limited fiscal space due to high import volumes. He noted that the cabinet is still reviewing the financial feasibility of the proposed changes, with calculations ongoing to determine the exact allocation required.

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