Staff Correspondent

The government is in the final stages of preparing the Ninth National Pay Scale for public sector employees. Once the process is completed, the proposal will be placed before the Cabinet for approval, after which a government gazette will be issued to implement the new pay structure, Finance and Planning Adviser Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury has said.

Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat on Wednesday, the adviser said work on the new pay scale is progressing rapidly and that issuing the gazette would not take much time after Cabinet approval.

The government formed a 10-member committee on April 21, headed by Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani, to finalize the new pay structure. According to Finance Division officials, the committee's recommendations are now in the final stage.

The committee includes the Principal Secretary to the Chief Adviser, the Finance Secretary, the Public Administration Secretary, the Law Secretary, the Defence Secretary, the Secondary and Higher Education Secretary, the Health Services Secretary, the Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division, and the Comptroller General of Accounts.

Recently, a delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) held discussions with the government on Bangladesh's economic outlook. Although the IMF sought information on how the government plans to finance the new pay scale, it did not impose any conditions related to its implementation. The finance adviser emphasized that the IMF loan program has no connection with the proposed pay revision.

Officials from the Finance Division said the IMF had advised the government to strengthen revenue collection to support the additional expenditure required for the new pay structure.

The Ninth National Pay Commission, formed nearly 12 years after the previous one, submitted its report to the government in January. The commission recommended retaining the existing 20-grade salary structure while increasing salaries and allowances by 100 to 140 percent.

Under the proposal, the minimum basic salary would increase from Tk 8,250 to Tk 20,000, while the maximum basic salary would rise from Tk 78,000 to Tk 160,000.

According to the commission, implementing the new pay scale will require an additional Tk 106 billion. At present, the government spends approximately Tk 131 billion annually on salaries and pensions for around 1.4 million public employees and 900,000 pensioners.

Government sources said the revised pay structure will be introduced in phases. The proposal envisions implementing the new basic salaries during the current fiscal year, while revised allowances will be introduced in the following fiscal year.

While presenting the national budget earlier this year, the finance adviser announced that, after an interval of 11 years, the government would gradually implement a new pay scale for public servants, taking into account the impact of inflation.