Dhaka, April 28 -- Bangladesh Bank has relaxed its restrictions on incentive bonuses, allowing commercial banks to reward employees for special achievements even when they fail to report net profit at the end of the year.

In a notification issued on Tuesday, the central bank said banks that record operating profit may pay officials and employees an incentive bonus of up to one month's basic salary, provided they meet specific conditions.

The move is likely to benefit employees of several state-owned banks, including Sonali, Janata, Agrani, BASIC and Rupali, some of which generate operating profit but do not show net profit after provisioning and other adjustments.

Bangladesh Bank said the relaxation was intended to improve staff motiva...