Basic salaries to be implemented in 3 phases, allowances in 2028

The government has decided to retain the existing 20 grades for government employees while increasing basic salaries by up to 142 per cent.

Basic salaries for grades 1 to 11 will increase by 100 per cent, while those for grades 12 to 20 will rise by 115 to 142 per cent.

The new pay structure will be implemented retrospectively from 1 July, but not all at once; it will be introduced in phases.

The new pay structure was approved at a Cabinet meeting held at the Secretariat today, Monday, chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

Later, Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani provided details of the salary increases at a press conference at the Press Information Department.

The cabinet secretary further said the National Pay Scale 2026 will be implemented in phases from 1 July. Considering the financial implications of implementing the pay scale and its potential impact on inflation, the government has decided to introduce the full pay scale gradually over the current 2026–27 and 2027–28 fiscal years rather than implementing it all at once.

Considering lower-income employees, the government has decided to give priority to employees in grades 10 to 20 during implementation of the new pay structure. Basic salaries will be implemented in a total of three phases between July 1 this year and next year (2027). However, various allowances will take effect simultaneously from 1 January, 2028.

A similar phased increase in net pensions will also be implemented for pensioners.

The Cabinet Secretary said a separate committee had been formed for the judicial service. Based on the committee’s report, the Bangladesh Judicial Service Pay Scale will be approved and implemented in phases in the same manner from 1 July this year.

The cabinet secretary also said the implementation of the new pay scale would benefit around 2.4 million military and civilian employees (all are legally considered employees), as well as more than 900,000 retired employees and other eligible beneficiaries.

According to him, the government’s additional annual expenditure for this purpose will be over Tk 1.05 trillion (105,580 crore). The necessary funds have been allocated in the budgets for the respective fiscal years.