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3 SCBs to have own higher pay scale

Rejaul Karim Byron
Three state owned commercial banks (SCB) are going to introduce pay scales of their own to enhance staff salaries in line with the private commercial banks so that they can compete with die private banks with skilled human resources.
The government has already given a green signal in favour of the move to introduce new pay scales for the three banks--Sonali. Agrani and Janata, suggesting working out the pay scale under a common policy, sources said.
Meanwhile, die three banks are planning to announce 30 percent dearness allowance and two incre-ments to all their stalls before implementing the new pay scale.
A seven-member committee headed by Deputy Managing Director of Sonali Bank 1 lumayun Kabir is working on die new pay scale. Representatives from Agrani and Janata banks are also on the committee, which was formed last week and is supposed to submit its report within next three weeks.
High officials of the three banks said they are losing skilled man power because of the existing poor salary structure while die private and foreign commercial banks pay their staff even five times the salaries at the state-owned banks, which follow the government pay
scale.
The new pay scale will be implc merited in phases, said a high official of Sonali Bank, adding, "The staffs will first get basic salaries as per the new pay scale. The arrears against other benefits will be paid in phases."
Sonali, Agrani and Janata banks were turned into public limited companies recently, empowering their boards of directors to fix their own pay structure.
Janata Bank Managing Director SM Aminur Rahman told The Daily Star that they are considering introduction of their own pay scale to compete with the private banks. "The boards of the three banks will decide on the committee report on pay scale and the boards are now authorised to take independent decisionon pay structure," he said.
Sources said the committee working on the new pay scale has already collected service rules and pay structure of different private commercial banks.
"We will not be able to provide as high as the private banks are offering, but there will he increase in salaries and other benefits." said a committee member. "Wc will also recommend bringing changes in the service rules of staffs at the state-owned banks."
Another member of the committee said, Tn the new pay scale, there will be performance-based salary increase of staffs...Usually, stall salaries are increased at the state-owned banks through yearly increments. But the new pay scale will suggest salary enhancement for staffs performing well at any time of the year.
Referring to salaries of private commercial banks, a high official of a state-owned bank said a senior officer at their bank gets gross salary of Tk 11,040 while the same post at the private commercial banks yields Tk30,000-40,000.
Another official said, "It is not possible to provide the staff at these [ranks with the same salaries as the private banks, but we will enhance the salaries gradually..Many skilled and competent officials arc leaving the banks for lucrative salaries at die private banks."
As of December last year, the three state-owned banks had 50,000 staff.
A high official of Agrani Bank said many of their officials left their bank to join private banks for salaries five times higher.
"As we are a public limited company, we need to compete with the private banks and for this we need to employ competent staffs with good salaries," he said, adding that the banks will have to enhance staff salaries gradually considering the profit scenario of the banks.
In 2007, the three banks made Tk 1,673 crore profit with an increase of 55 percent, comparing to the profit of the previous year. Sonali Bank made Tk 606 crore profit while Janata Bank profited Tk 540 crore and Agrani BankTk527 crore.
After adjusting the huge provision shortfall against defaulted loans, however, the net profit of the banks came to zero.
Operational expenses of Sonali Bank was Tk 570 crore last year while Janata Bank's operational cost was Tk 423 crore and Agrani Bank's Tk 315 crore. Available data shows that 79 percent of the operational cost of these banks was used for staff salaries and benefits.