The Foreign Ministry is looking to raise outfit allowance for officials at Bangladeshi embassies abroad by up to eight times, say Finance Division officials.
The ministry had last revised this allowance 15 years ago.
M Allama Siddique, a director general of the Foreign Ministry, sent the proposal to Senior Finance Secretary Mahbub Ahmed last week.
The finance division official said the expenditure control wing was examining the proposal. When asked about the high increase, Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque said the proposed outfit allowance was not at all high considering inflation and devaluation of the taka over the last 15 years.
According to the proposal, the Foreign Ministry wishes to raise outfit allowance under foreign service rules so that first time ambassadors would receive about $750 instead of just $100.
The outfit allowance applies when staff and officials are posted to a Bangladeshi mission abroad for the first time.
Salaries and allowances of government employees had been raised in 2005 and 2009 but that had no effect on the outfit allowance of officials in foreign missions.
The foreign ministry proposal seeks to raise an ambassador’s outfit allowance to Tk60,000 from the current Tk8,000, which is about $100.
According to the proposal, a first-time ambassador will receive Tk60,000, married embassy official Tk80,000, unmarried official Tk45,000, married staff member Tk35,000 and unmarried staff member Tk25,000. Besides, special allowance will be given to staff and officials of Bangladeshi missions in Moscow, Ottowa, Beijing and Stockholm.
The first appointment of a married chauffeur and non-clerical staff members in foreign missions will fetch them Tk20,000 while unmarried chauffeurs and non clerical staff members would receive Tk12,000. The current allowances are Tk10,000 for married official, Tk4,800 for unmarried official, Tk4,000 for married staff members, and Tk2,000 for unmarried staff members.
