NBR Chairman and Senior Secretary to Internal Resources Division Md Nojibur Rahman is likely to be appointed as the new Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, highly-placed government sources have said.

Rahman, who has two more years to go as a civil servant, has been chosen ahead of contenders like Mozammel Haque Khan, now the Senior Secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration, said the sources.

The new position will put him on par with the cabinet secretary in civil service rank. As per the Warrant of Precedence, the principal secretary is just below the cabinet secretary but above the chiefs of the army, navy and air force.

A 1982 BCS recruit, Rahman had helmed the forest and environment ministry and the planning ministry’s statistics and informatics division prior to his job as the NBR chief.

He also headed the department of the environment as the director general.

Born in 1960 in the northeastern district of Sunamganj, Rahman is set to go on post-retirement leave from December 30, 2019.