The interim government has approved the 2025–26 budget, raising the minimum special allowance to Tk1,500 for serving officials and Tk750 for pensioners, effective from July 1.
Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed shared this information at a press briefing held at the Secretariat on Sunday.
However, individuals on unpaid leave or those who have taken a one-off gratuity by fully surrendering their pension will not be eligible for the benefit. Autonomous and state-owned institutions will have to cover this expense from their own budgets, as it does not fall under the revenue budget.
The adviser said: “A minimum special allowance of Tk1,500 will be given to serving government employees and Tk750 to pensioners.”
He added: “For those receiving a net pension above Tk17,388, a 10% allowance has been proposed, and for those below that threshold, the allowance will be 15%.”
He also said: “In addition to civil servants, separate orders have been approved for members of the armed forces, judges, and MPO-listed employees.”
Earlier, on June 2, Dr Salehuddin Ahmed had presented the proposed budget for the 2025–26 financial year.
The following day, on June 3, the Ministry of Finance issued a circular confirming that the special allowance would take effect from July 1.
According to the circular, employees in grades 1 to 9 will receive an additional 10% of their basic salary annually as a special allowance, while those in grades 10 to 20 will receive 15%.
The minimum amount payable will be Tk1,000 for employees and Tk500 for pensioners. This means the new budget has increased the minimum special allowance by Tk500 for serving employees and Tk250 for pensioners.
The June 3 circular also noted that the allowance will apply to employees on post-retirement leave (PRL), suspended employees (based on 50% of their last basic salary), and some individuals appointed on a contractual basis.
Meanwhile, the new budget has introduced changes in two other areas, one of which is social safety net programs.
In this regard, the finance adviser said that the allocation for social protection has been raised from the initially recommended Tk81,297 crore to Tk91,297 crore for the 2025–26 fiscal year.
The previous year’s budget allocation for this sector was Tk90,468 crore. This figure does not include retirement benefits or interest on savings certificates.
Dr Salehuddin also announced that the third phase of phasing out export-oriented incentives in the post-LDC transition period will now begin on January 1 2026 instead of the previously planned date of July 1, 2025.