The government may declare a separate pay scale for the employees of Bangladesh Bank and state-owned commercial banks this month.

A committee led by Cabinet Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan is looking into a finance ministry proposal and the separate pay scale is likely to be finalised in the next meeting of the committee, officials said.

Meanwhile, the dearness allowance and new pay commission for the civil servants may also be announced this month. After the cabinet meeting on Thursday, Finance Minister AMA Muhith held an informal meeting with the prime minister about this.

The Banking Division under the finance ministry has proposed a total of 11 grades for the staff of both the central bank and the state banks.

There are 20 grades in the existing pay scale for the civil servants, including those of the central bank and the state banks, a Banking Division official said.

But in case of a separate pay scale, the number of grades has been brought down to 11, the official added.
Banking Division Secretary M Aslam Alam told The Daily Star that they are trying to finalise the separate pay scale this month. However, as the number of grades is being reduced, some time is needed to ensure that none is affected.

Different aspects were considered by the Banking Division in preparing the draft pay scale. In the process, the Division considered suggestions made by the central bank and the state banks and also studied the pay structures of two private banks and the Indian central bank.

According to the Banking Division recommendations for the 11 grades in total, the basic salary for those in the highest grade will be Tk 52,000 and Tk 5,000 for the lowest grade.

In the existing 20-grade scale, the highest basic is Tk 33,500 and the lowest is Tk 4,100.
On the other hand, the pay structure of Mutual Trust Bank with 20 grades shows the highest was Tk 85,800 and the lowest Tk 6,400.
In case of Uttara Bank with 15 grades in 2011, the basic for the highest grade was Tk 40,000 and the lowest was Tk 4,200.
The highest grade holder in the Indian central bank receives a basic of Rs 37,400 and the lowest grade holder Rs 4,440.
Considering the currency exchange rates, the real salary for Indian central bank employees is higher than their Bangladeshi counterparts.
In addition, civil servants in Bangladesh also receive lower salaries than their counterparts in India. According to a Banking Division report, the Indian cabinet secretary draws a monthly salary of Rs 90,000, whereas the Bangladesh cabinet secretary receives Tk 45,000.

A finance ministry official said they have made the recommendations, taking everything into consideration.
The finance ministry has been debating giving a dearness allowance worth 10 or 20 percent to the civil servants.

The decision will be taken after the finance minister discusses the matter with the prime minister in a couple of days, officials said.