AHSAN HABIB

A proposed pay hike of as much as 142 percent for civil servants clashes with the government’s austerity measures adopted after the 2024 uprising.

On the one hand, the interim government is engaged in belt-tightening, slashing development projects and squeezing the money supply to tame persistent inflation. On the other hand, a state-appointed commission has just recommended a mind-boggling pay rise for civil servants that would double the government’s recurring wage bill. For a treasury already straining under the weight of debt and missed revenue targets, the proposal looks like a fiscal landmine waiting to explode (if implemented).

The rationale behind the Ninth National Pay Commission’s report, submitted last week by former finance secretary Zakir Ahmed Khan, is not completely unwarranted. Civil servants have not seen a pay revision in a decade, during which their purchasing power has been eroded by inflation.

However, the mathematical reality is unforgiving. Implementing the new pay structure will require an additional Tk 1.06 lakh crore annually. This is on top of the Tk 1.31 lakh crore the state already spends on 14 lakh employees and nine lakh pensioners.

To put this largesse into perspective, the proposed increase alone is roughly 2.5 times the entire national

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