Kathmandu: The government is preparing to increase salaries for civil servants for the first time in four years through the upcoming fiscal year 2083/84 budget, as the administration led by Prime Minister Balen Shah seeks to boost morale within the bureaucracy and push for stronger performance from state employees.
Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle is expected to formally announce the salary hike while presenting the national budget in Parliament on Friday. Officials say the government is preparing to raise salaries by at least 15 percent, although internal discussions have considered increases of up to 30 percent.
Government employees have not received a salary increase for the past three fiscal years, despite provisions in Nepal’s civil service law that call for salary and allowance revisions every two years. As a result, the government has been under growing pressure to adjust compensation in line with inflation and rising living costs.
Officials say the Balen administration also feels compelled to improve salaries because it has simultaneously dismantled employee trade unions, imposed stricter performance expectations, and instructed bureaucrats to deliver visible results within a short timeframe.
According to Finance Ministry sources, the government believes higher pay is necessary both to motivate employees and to improve administrative efficiency.
The salary revision is expected to follow recommendations made by a compensation review committee led by Chief Secretary Suman Raj Aryal. The committee recommended that government pay structures be reviewed annually based on revenue growth, total staffing levels, inflation, and previously granted cost-of-living allowances.
The panel also proposed increasing the minimum monthly salary for civil servants to Rs 35,000 and the maximum salary to Rs 121,000.
Under Section 27 of Nepal’s Civil Service Act, salaries should technically have been revised last year as well. However, the government avoided raising base salaries at the time, arguing that state revenues could not support the added burden. Instead, it only increased the cost-of-living allowance.
The last major salary revision came in fiscal year 2079/80, when then-finance minister Janardan Sharma raised salaries for civil servants and teachers by 15 percent.
Later, in the fiscal year 2082/83 budget, former finance minister Bishnu Paudel increased the monthly inflation allowance for all government employees by Rs 2,000, taking the total monthly allowance to Rs 5,000.
Despite severe pressure on public finances, Finance Ministry officials say the government sees salary increases as politically and administratively unavoidable.
“The salary increase is certain. The only remaining question is the final percentage, which will be decided by the political leadership,” a Finance Ministry source told Clickmandu. “A minimum increase of 15 percent is guaranteed, but it could go as high as 30 percent.”
The government also plans to present the budget as part of a broader restructuring of public administration. Officials say the budget will include measures to eliminate unnecessary appointments, dissolve ineffective institutions, and redirect spending away from populist distribution programs toward more productive projects.
According to ministry officials, the revised salaries will take effect from the first day of the new fiscal year in mid-July.
Under the current pay structure, the chief secretary receives a monthly salary of Rs 77,211, secretaries receive Rs 72,082, joint secretaries receive Rs 56,737, under-secretaries receive Rs 48,737, section officers receive Rs 43,689, non-gazetted officers receive Rs 43,389, and office assistants receive Rs 27,612.
Beyond salary adjustments, the government is also considering additional welfare measures for public employees, including education support for employees’ children up to the undergraduate level and concessional facilities for purchasing land or housing at least once during service.
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