HONG KONG - Civil service pay in Hong Kong would increase by 5.26 percent for the directorate and civil servants in the upper salary band, and 5.80 percent for civil servants in the middle and lower salary bands, the city's Civil Service Bureau said on Tuesday.

The decision, with retrospective effect from April 1, 2012, was made after the bureau has considered the responses of the staff sides of the four civil service central consultative councils to the pay offers from the Administration, the Chief Executive in Council.

"We believe the decision is fair and reasonable as it has taken into account the general pay adjustments in the private sector over the 12-month period ended April 1, 2012, the state of Hong Kong's economy, changes in the cost of living, the government's fiscal position, the staff sides' pay claims and civil service morale," a spokesman for the bureau said.

The government will invite the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council to approve the 2012-13 civil service pay adjustment at its meeting to be held on June 29.