It was not the right time to announce the new pay scale for government employees as the country is already facing persistent inflationary pressure.
The announcement could further fuel inflation in the market, which may have a negative impact on private-sector employees as well as industries, particularly labour-intensive sectors.
It will become difficult for private-sector employees to make ends meet. As a result, they are likely to demand higher salaries, which is understandable. However, given the current situation, does industry have the capacity to accommodate such wage increases?
The industry is already facing multiple challenges, including severe shortages of gas and electricity, high lending rates and an unstable law-and-order situation.
In this situation, if companies are forced to raise salaries, they will lose competitiveness as their production costs increase. They may struggle to sell their products, ultimately having a significant negative impact on industry.
Anwar-Ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez is President, Bangladesh Chamber of Industries
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