Facing the movement of government officials and employees, the authorities have finally initiated to implement the ninth pay scale. A senior official of the Finance Division said that it will be implemented in stages from the next budget.
Sources in the finance ministry have learned that initially during the interim government, there was a recommendation for partial implementation from January 1, 2026, but it was not implemented for various reasons.
Currently, based on the information from the new committee, a special allocation is being made in the budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year. According to the source, the pay scale will not be implemented all at once but in stages and there is a plan to increase the basic salary in the first stage.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Government Officials and Employees Welfare Association has announced a large programme in front of the Jatiya Press Club on May 16 to demand the speedy implementation of the new pay scale.
Addl Tk106,000cr required to implement the ninth pay scale, staff rally today
Convener of the organisation, Abdul Malek, said that peaceful programs will be held nationwide throughout the month of May to bring the demands of the employees to the attention of the government. A central rally and discussion meeting at the National Press Club in Dhaka on May 16.
The Central Convening Committee of the Bangladesh Government Officials and Employees Welfare Association has claimed that the non-implementation of the new pay scale and the unbridled rise in commodity prices have created severe dissatisfaction and frustration among government officials and employees. The organization has demanded the immediate submission of the final recommendations of the 'National Pay Commission 2025' before the upcoming national budget.
The government has taken the programme of this movement of government officials and employees seriously. For this, the government has instructed to the finance ministry to implement the pay scale. For this, the ministry a 10-member technical committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary has been formed to finalize the new pay scale proposal.
According to the government's plan, the government is taking the initiative to partially implement the new pay scale or salary structure in the upcoming budget for the fiscal year 2026-27, ending the long wait of government officials and employees.
According to sources related to the finance ministry, an allocation of about Tk 35,000 crore may be proposed in the budget for the implementation of this new structure.
The Finance Ministry has already prepared a draft budget including the cost of the increased salary structure. The plan will take final shape after a final meeting with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. The total allocation for salaries and allowances of government employees is going to increase significantly in this budget.
The government is reviewing two alternative methods to implement the new pay scale. One is a three-year plan, the other is to implement the pay scale in stages over the next two fiscal years.
According to the first option, the proposed basic salary will be increased by 50 percent in the next fiscal year. The remaining amount will be given in the next year and house rent and other allowances will be given in two stages in the third year.
The government will need an additional approximately Tk 106,000 crore to implement the ninth pay scale. Of this, Tk 80,000 crore will be spent directly on officials and employees, and the rest will be spent on paying salaries to pensioners and MPO-listed teachers and employees.
The previous interim government had allocated Tk 30,000 crore for this as the Ninth Pay Commission had recommended the partial implementation of the new salary structure this year itself.
However, due to low revenue collection and the increase in fuel prices due to the Middle East crisis, the implementation of the new pay scale has been postponed to the next fiscal year.
The Pay Commission has proposed 20 salary grades for the implementation of the Ninth Pay Scale. In this, the minimum salary has been increased from Tk 8,250 to Tk 20,000. And the maximum salary has been recommended to be increased from Tk 78,000 to Tk 160,000, so that the actual wage does not decrease compared to 2015.
The size of the proposed budget for the next fiscal year may be approximately Tk 930,000 crore, which is 18 per cent more than the current fiscal year. Out of this, the revenue target has been set at Tk 630,000 crore.
The revised budget for the current fiscal year has been set at Tk 788,000 crore. The revenue budget has been increased by Tk 25,000 crore and the development budget has been reduced by about Tk 30,000 crore. The total allocation for salaries and allowances of government officials and employees was Tk 84,114 crore and Tk 35,657 crore was kept for pensioners.
