TIB backs new pay scale, seeks mandatory annual asset disclosure for beneficiaries

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on Tuesday welcomed the government's approval of a new national pay scale for public servants but called for the higher salaries and allowances to be made conditional on annual disclosure of income, expenditure and assets.

TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said government employees at all levels, as well as their dependent family members, should be required to update and disclose their financial and asset information every year to qualify for benefits under the new pay structure.

"The new 'pay scale' should only be applied to people who disclose this information," he said in a statement.

TIB described the government's decision to introduce the pay scale in three phases as reasonable given the country's fiscal constraints.

Iftekharuzzaman said salaries and allowances needed to reflect the cost of living if the government expected professional, efficient and corruption-free public services.

But higher pay financed by taxpayers must be accompanied by stronger accountability, he said, arguing that annual declarations of income, expenditure and assets would make it easier to detect illicit wealth and curb corruption.

TIB said many public servants perform their duties honestly and deserved the higher compensation. But extending the same benefits without additional scrutiny to officials who accumulate illicit wealth through corruption and abuse of power would be unjustified.

"If the new pay scale is implemented across the board without ensuring effective accountability mechanisms, the level of corruption in the public sector will increase further," Iftekharuzzaman warned.

He pointed to Bangladesh's eighth national pay scale, introduced in 2015, saying expectations at the time that higher salaries would improve public administration had not materialised.

"Salaries and allowances increased, but the extent and depth of irregularities, corruption, and bribery in government institutions escalated even faster," he said.

TIB said mandatory asset declarations were a widely used tool for strengthening accountability in the public sector and argued that taxpayers financing higher public-sector salaries should be able to expect services free from bribery and harassment.

The watchdog also warned that the pay increases could add to inflationary pressures and push up prices of essential goods, disproportionately hurting low-income workers already struggling with higher living costs.

TIB urged the government to take measures to contain those risks while linking the increased salaries and allowances to enforceable annual financial and asset disclosure requirements.

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