Salary review recommendations for ministers accepted, but full implementation delayed
Singapore's government has accepted an independent committee's recommendation to raise the benchmark salary for senior ministers from S$1.1 million to S$1.8 million annually, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced in Parliament on Tuesday.
The move ends a 15-year freeze on political salaries, with Wong acknowledging the prolonged restraint had widened the gap between ministerial pay and remuneration in both the private sector and the civil service.
"Restraint cannot become neglect," Wong said in his ministerial statement. "And that is why I have decided we must act now."
However, the government will not move immediately to the new benchmark. Instead, ministers will receive a one-off adjustment of up to nine per cent, bringing an MR4 minister, the most common senior grade, from approximately S$1.1 million to S$1.2 million. Further increases beyond that will be based on individual performance rather than a fixed timeline to close the remaining gap.
Members of Parliament will see their monthly allowances rise from S$13,750 to S$18,500, effective 15 October. Adjustments to the salaries of the President, Speaker, and Deputy Speaker will also take effect from that date.
Wong said the government accepted all of the independent committee's recommendations, which were released alongside the government's response on the same day.
PM donates his own salary
In a personal gesture, Wong announced he would donate the full increase to his own salary for the next five years.
"This is my own decision," he said. "I do not expect other officeholders to do the same."
The prime minister framed the changes as essential to Singapore's ability to attract capable leaders into public life, pointing to difficulties recruiting senior public servants and private-sector executives into political roles ahead of the last general election.
"Before the last General Election, I spoke to several CEOs and other senior business leaders whom I thought could make a real contribution in politics," Wong said. "In the end, none of those I approached was prepared to make the move."
Wong also pointed to the succession challenge facing several key portfolios, noting that three of his most senior ministers, Gan Kim Yong, K. Shanmugam, and Vivian Balakrishnan, would be 70 or older by the next term of government.
The revised framework also introduces structural changes, merging the MR2 and MR3 ministerial grades into a single grade and widening the salary range for each grade to plus or minus 25%, giving the prime minister more flexibility to differentiate pay based on performance and experience.
Parliament is expected to debate both Wong's statement and a related ministerial statement by Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing on Thursday.
The adjustment comes against a broader backdrop of wage caution among Singapore's private sector.
A recent survey by the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) found that 51% of employers are planning wage moderation or a wage freeze in 2027 amid significant cost pressures and uncertainties in business outlook.
