Govt officials' car allowance to remain Tk 50,000

The initiative to halve the monthly car maintenance allowance for government officials, from Deputy Secretary to the top level, from Tk 50,000 to Tk 25,000 has been dropped.

The existing allowance of Tk 50,000 per month will remain in place.

The benefit is provided not only to civil administration officials but also to members of the judiciary, the Election Commission and the armed forces.

The issue prompted a week-long exchange of correspondence between the Finance Division under the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Public Administration, leading to dissatisfaction among many officials.

Although the Ministry of Finance proposed reducing the vehicle maintenance allowance on 9 July, the Finance Division on Thursday afternoon sent a letter to the Ministry of Public Administration asking it not to take any further action on the proposal.

Consequently, the monthly vehicle maintenance allowance will remain at Tk50,000.

Meanwhile, an inter-ministerial meeting involving stakeholders from the Armed Forces Division, the Election Commission, the Judicial Service and other agencies was scheduled for 3:30pm on Thursday. However, according to sources at the Ministry of Public Administration, the meeting has been postponed.

Eligible government officials had been receiving interest-free loans of Tk3 million to purchase vehicles. The government discontinued that facility on 9 July. Officials who purchased vehicles through those interest-free loans also receive a monthly vehicle maintenance allowance of Tk50,000 from the government.

On 13 July, the Finance Division wrote to the Ministry of Public Administration asking it to take the necessary steps to reduce the allowance to Tk25,000. However, the Finance Division left it to the Ministry of Public Administration to determine how the reduction could be implemented.

In its letter, the Finance Division requested an assessment of the possibility of reducing the maintenance allowance. It said that, in order to ensure the proper use of limited resources, keep inflation at a tolerable level and maintain macroeconomic stability, there is scope to reduce the financial benefit received by government officials who receive a vehicle maintenance allowance after taking interest-free vehicle purchase loans.