New pay structure
Chattogram City Corporation and WASA face Tk 450 crore burden
- WASA says expenses will be covered by increasing revenue
- CCC says institutions outside the tax net will be brought under it
- CDA remains financially comfortable with a strong fund
Collected Photo
The approval of the new national pay structure has put Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) and Chattogram Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) under financial pressure. The two agencies will have to spend an additional Tk 450 crore to pay the salaries and allowances of their officers and employees. Both institutions are financially weak.
An analysis of the budgets of the two institutions shows that only a nominal amount remains as a surplus after covering their full year operating expenses. Even that amount is spent on repaying debts. Against this backdrop, Chattogram City Corporation may have to increase holding tax and WASA may have to raise water prices to meet the additional salary and allowance costs.
However, officials of the two agencies said the additional expenses would be covered by increasing revenue rather than putting an additional tax burden on city residents.
Another statutory institution, the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA), is in a comfortable position in this regard. Although its salary and allowance expenses will increase by Tk 24 crore under the new pay scale, it has a strong fund of around Tk 900 crore.
The government approved the new pay structure for government employees last Monday. Under the new structure, basic salaries will increase by 100 to 142 percent depending on the grade.
CCC faces Tk 350 crore burden
An analysis of the Chattogram City Corporation budget shows that the city corporation earned Tk 1,665.92 crore in the 2025 to 26 fiscal years. Its expenditure was also almost equal to its income. There was no surplus. The corporation spent Tk 332.24 crore on salaries and allowances for permanent and temporary officers and employees. Of this amount, Tk 246.70 crore was spent on salaries and allowances for permanent officers and employees. If salaries increase by 100 to 142 percent under the new pay scale, CCC will need an additional Tk 246 crore to Tk 350 crore for salaries. Its total salary and allowance expenses will rise to Tk 682 crore at once.
However, as the city corporation has no surplus fund of its own, it will not be possible for it to meet this huge additional expense. The city corporation mainly depends on holding tax, service fees and government grants to meet its expenses. To manage the additional costs, it will need government block allocations. Otherwise, it will have to increase its own holding tax and service charges.
According to the proposed budget for the 2026 to 27 fiscal years, the city corporation has set its total proposed budget at Tk 2,260.24 crore. Of this, Tk 480.85 crore has been allocated for salaries and allowances for officers and employees. Tk 165 crore has been allocated for basic salaries. The city corporation has around 8,000 permanent and temporary officers and employees.
