The government is planning to increase the salary of lower-grade employees more than higher-grade officers in the first phase of the new pay scale. This plan aims to control government expenses and help lower-income employees cope with inflation.
Sources say that in the next fiscal year, employees in grades 10 to 20 may get a higher salary increase. Employees in grades 1 to 9 may get a comparatively lower salary increase this year.
A deputy minister present at a cabinet meeting told TBS that although the implementation of the new pay scale was not officially on the meeting's agenda, it came up in various discussions.
The deputy minister, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that according to the announcement by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury in the 2026-27 budget speech, the government is planning to implement the new salary structure in phases, i.e., over three fiscal years.
The deputy minister said that considering the pressure of high inflation on family expenses, the cabinet members favored a higher salary increase for lower-income employees in the first year.
He further said that the government's operating expenses will increase due to the salary hike. But there is no certainty of revenue income accordingly. Again, due to high inflation, lower-income employees are under pressure to meet their living expenses. Considering the overall situation, it has been advised to increase the salary of higher-paid employees at a lower rate and increase the salary of lower-paid employees at a higher rate.
The government has announced the implementation of a new salary structure for government employees from July 1.
Sources say that initially, the government decided to increase the basic salary by 50% in the new salary structure compared to the current salary structure, to be given in two consecutive fiscal years; the increased portion of the allowance will be given in the last fiscal year. Now, there may be a change in that decision.
Relevant sources have informed that 40% of the increase in the basic salary of government officials from grade 1 to grade 9 may be given in the next fiscal year. And 60% of the increase in the basic salary of employees from grade 10 to grade 20 may be given. However, no final decision has been announced on this matter yet.
The interim government formed the Public Administration Reform Commission, which recommended increasing the salary of government employees. In this context, the National Pay Commission-2025 was formed. The commission submitted their report to the Chief Adviser on January 21.
The commission recommended increasing salaries by 100% to 142%. Officials informed that the government would incur an additional expense of Tk 1.06 lakh crore to implement this recommendation.
In addition, the Bangladesh Judicial Service Pay Commission-2025 and the Armed Forces Pay Commission-2025 submitted reports recommending salary increases for employees of the judiciary and armed forces.
After the elected government took charge, a committee of 10 secretaries, led by Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani, was formed on April 21 to review the reports of these three commissions and make recommendations. This committee has already held three meetings.
Sources say that this committee has reviewed the report of the National Pay Commission in detail. However, the recommendation has not been finalized.
Before finalizing the recommendation, a draft of the new salary structure was presented at a cabinet meeting to give the government an idea about the salary structure.
According to sources, this committee proposed increasing the basic salary by a maximum of 120% in their draft recommendation. However, it is not known how much the minimum increase is proposed.
Although the reports of the other two commissions have been reviewed, they have not been finalized, sources say. These three reports are to be finalized and presented as an agenda item at the cabinet meeting next month.
Currently, employees in 20 grades are working in public administration. Among them, first-class employees are appointed to grade 9 through the BCS exam. Other-class employees are appointed to grades 10 to 20.
On April 2, Public Administration Deputy Minister Abdul Bari informed the Jatiya Sangsad, based on the latest information on government employee manpower, that there are 14 lakh 50 thousand 891 people working in government jobs in the country.
Of these, the number of employees working in grades 1 to 9, i.e., the first class, is 1 lakh 90 thousand 773. The remaining 12 lakh 60 thousand 118 people are working in grades 10 to 20.
