KATHMANDU, May 29: In a move likely to disappoint hundreds of thousands of public employees, the government has decided not to increase civil servants’ salaries in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025/26.
Unveiling the national budget at the Joint Session of the Federal Parliament on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel said that although there is a clear need to revise public sector pay in line with rising living costs, budget limitations left no room for a salary hike.
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“While we fully recognise the necessity to adjust the remuneration of civil servants in a timely manner, the pressure on resource management has made it impossible to meet expectations this year,” said Minister Paudel.
However, in an effort to ease the burden of inflation, the government has increased the dearness allowance—also known as cost-of-living allowance—to Rs 5,000.
The announcement comes amid growing public concern over inflation, and after weeks of speculation that civil servants might receive a long-awaited raise. Instead, they’ll have to make do with a modest bump in allowances—at least for now.
