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the house rent and other allowances would be paid in two phases in the third year.

Full implementation of the pay commission’s recommendations would require Tk 106,000 crore, of which Tk 80,000 crore would be needed for government officials and employees. The rest would go towards pensioners and MPO-listed teachers and staff.

The Ninth Pay Commission has recommended partial implementation of the salary structure this year and the interim government has earmarked Tk 30,000 crore in this fiscal year’s budget for partial implementation of the recommendations.

However, the implementation has been pushed back to the next fiscal year amid narrowing fiscal space due to low revenue mobilisation and rising fuel prices due to the Middle East conflict.

The commission recommended 20 pay scales, with the minimum salary proposed to rise from Tk 8,250 to Tk 20,000 and the maximum from Tk 78,000 to Tk 160,000.

The new pay structure was prepared after reviewing significant changes in “nearly all global and national economic indicators, particularly the sharp rise in the prices of essential commodities over the past decade”, said Zakir Ahmed Khan, a former finance secretary who led the pay commission.

The aim was to ensure that the real wages under the new structure do not fall below the 2015 level.

“Without a timely and appropriate pay structure, it has become increasingly difficult for government employees to manage living expenses,” he said after handing over the report to Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.

The Eighth National Pay Scale was implemented in 2015 in two phases: the revised basic salary took effect from July 1, 2015, while revised allowances came into force a year later.

In fiscal 2014-15, the allocation for salaries and allowances stood at Tk 28,709 crore. Following implementation, the allocation rose sharply to Tk 50,775 crore the next year.

Currently, the government spends Tk 131,000 crore a year for its 14 lakh employees and 9 lakh pensioners.