Singapore PM faces 36% pay cut

SINGAPORE – Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his ministers will see their pay slashed by about 36 per cent as the government responds to opposition complaints over their high salaries, but Lee will remain the world’s best-paid leader.

Singapore pays its government members and civil servants generously to attract top talent to the public sector but leaders’ pay has been criticised as excessive by the opposition which made historic gains in a general election last May.Lee earns more than US$2,3 million a year but will see that reduced to US$1,7 million under the recommendations of a review committee he appointed last year, the committee said on its website.Despite the pay cut, Lee’s salary will still be three times that of Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang, the world’s next highest-paid political leader who takes home about US$550 000 a year.Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard will get about US$498 200 a year under proposals unveiled recently while US President Barack Obama earns about US$400 000.Many Singaporeans complain about rising prices for basics such as housing and transport on the island, which has seen an influx of foreign workers over recent years.According to data from the Ministry of Manpower, the income of the bottom 20 per cent of Singaporeans was flat or negative in the ten years to June 2010. – Nampa-AP

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