Public service wages must be fair and realistic to ensure flow of able and committed leaders: DPM Teo

SINGAPORE must continue to keep wages in the public service fair and realistic to ensure a flow of able and committed leaders, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said on Tuesday.

"As Members have agreed, we must continue to keep wages in the public service realistic, and strike the right balance between recognising the ethos of political service and providing a fair salary, to ensure a flow of able and committed leaders into Government to serve Singapore and Singaporeans well, into the future," Mr Teo told Parliament during the Budget debate for the Prime Minister's Office.

He shared that political salaries have not gone up in the last three years: "...since 2011, the year-on-year benchmark movement has been moderate, moving up in two of the three years, and down slightly in one year, giving an overall change of around 3% upward annually over the three years that the formula has been in operation. Because the changes in the benchmark have been moderate, we have not adjusted political salaries in these past 3 years."

Mr Teo said the 2014 benchmark annual salary of a minister at entry-level grade of MR4 should be S$1.2 million, but this has been kept unchanged at S$1.1 million. These include all salary components - basic salary, 13th month, annual variable component (AVC), and all individual performance and national bonuses.