Under the new 11-grade pay scale the basic salary for those in the lowest grade will be Tk6,000 and for the highest grade will be Tk55,000

The law ministry will examine Bangladesh Bank Order 1972 to see whether the separate pay scale for the central bank employees can be implemented under the existing law.

The finance ministry yesterday sent a copy of the Order to the law ministry, said official sources.

Despite the prime minister’s approval, the introduction of separate pay scale for the officials of Bangladesh Bank and four state-run commercial banks – Sonali, Rupali, Janata and Agrani – has been stuck in legal complexities for last six months.

“We are waiting for an advice from the law ministry about how the pay scale can be introduced promptly without making a new law,” a finance division official told the Dhaka Tribune.

If the implementation needs a new law for Bangladesh Bank, the law ministry will send an outline of it to the finance division, he added.

Sources in the finance division said the previous legal advice from the law ministry was not enough and lacked adequate instructions on amendment of the law.

Due to pressure from Bangladesh Bank, the law ministry might have done it hurriedly, they said.

Last month, Finance Minister AMA Muhithreiterated that the government would soon implement a separate pay scale for Bangladesh Bank and four state-owned commercial banks.

He said: “The process of implementation would start from where it got stuck.”

The pay scale for any government office is implemented under the under the Services (Reorganisation and Conditions) Act, 1975.

But as the four state-owned banks are corporatised now, they can introduce separate pay structures through their board approvals.

But Bangladesh Bank cannot do that,and is likely to require the amendment of the existing law.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina signed the recommendations of the secretaries’ committee on separate pay scale on November 12 last year.

Under the new 11-grade pay scale which will replace the existing 20-grade pay structure, the basic salary for those in the lowest grade will be Tk6,000 and for the highest grade will be Tk55,000.

Currently, the four banks have around 90,000 employees while the central bank has nearly 6,000.