No proposal on dearness allowance for govt officials

The finance ministry has not proposed any allocation on dearness allowance for government employees in its budget for the upcoming fiscal year, according to an official.

The finance ministry placed its budget proposals in a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last night.

There was no discussion on the issue of dearness allowance during the meeting either, the official said.

Earlier, a number of media outlets, quoting officials of the finance ministry, reported that government employees, who are expecting a new pay scale in the upcoming budget for the fiscal year of 2023-24, have to be satisfied with a maximum 20 per cent dearness allowance.

A proposal for a special allowance has been prepared, taking into account the price hike of essentials, one of them reported last month, citing sources.

The government usually announces a new pay scale every five years. After implementing the seventh pay scale in 2009, the government implemented a new pay scale in 2015 by increasing the salary by almost 100 per cent. Since then, the government employees are getting a 5 per cent increment every year in July, according to UNB.

During the meeting, the prime minister directed the finance ministry to place highest priorities on economic stabilisation and tackling inflation in the next budget.

The ministry gave an outline of a Tk 7.60 lakh crore budget for FY23-24, finance ministry officials said.