Singapore ministers, among world’s highest paid government officials, get first raise in 15 years

Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced on Tuesday that ministers, who are among the world's highest-paid government officials, will receive their first raise in 15 years. The benchmark annual pay for a minister at the lowest grade will increase from 1.1 million Singapore dollars ($868,330) to 1.8 million Singapore dollars ($1.42 million), while the prime minister's benchmark salary will rise from 2.2 million Singapore dollars ($1.7 million) to 3.6 million Singapore dollars ($2.8 million).

The one-time adjustment, which will begin on October 15, will be up to 9% based on performance and responsibilities, with most ministers at the lowest grade expected to earn about 1.35 million Singapore dollars ($1.06 million) by the end of the current term. Wong emphasized that the government cannot attract top talent into politics if salaries remain unchanged and that the salary increase is necessary to maintain a clean government.

Brief written by urgent.news from Associated Press's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.