Agence France-Presse - 11/24/2008 12:05 PM GMT

Singapore PM to earn almost 2 million dlrs -- after pay cut

Singapore's prime minister is to lose 19 percent of his salary because of the global economic turmoil but will still earn almost two million US dollars a year, a report said Monday.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, his cabinet, and other senior administrators will see their pay cut by up to 19 percent next year because of salary components linked to the city-state's economic growth, The Straits Times website reported.

Singapore is in recession and the government said the economy could contract next year.
"In view of the clouded economic outlook and the likelihood that salaries will be lower next year, the government has decided to defer the January 2009 salary adjustment," the report quoted the Public Service Division as saying.

The Division could not be immediately reached for comment.

With the pay cut, Lee will earn 3.04 million dollars (1.99 million US) a year, while ministers will see an 18 percent drop to 1.57 million dollars, The Straits Times said.

Rare public fury erupted in April 2007 when the government announced salary hikes for politicians and senior officials. In response, Lee said the government would pay him the higher salary but he would "donate" the increase "to suitable good causes" for five years.

The White House said at the time that US President George W. Bush got paid 400,000 dollars per year for doing his job.

Singapore officials have said high salaries are necessary to recruit and retain talented individuals, and to prevent corruption.

Teo Chee Hean, the minister in charge of the civil service, said the government last year introduced the mechanism linking a significant proportion of senior civil servants' salaries to economic performance, a system which is working as planned.

"Public sector salaries follow the market up and down," The Straits Times quoted him as saying. "This mechanism allows salaries to respond more rapidly to market conditions."