A SALARY review for Singapore’s political office-holders due in 2023 was deferred as the government is dealing with other pressing issues, said Minister-in-charge of the Public Service Chan Chun Sing.

Replying to parliamentary questions filed by two MPs, he said the geopolitical situation had become more uncertain in 2023, with conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as heightened political contestation.

There were also significant uncertainties in the global economy impacting Singapore’s economy, wages and inflation outlook, he added.

“Hence, we decided to focus on dealing with these key challenges at hand and defer the review of political salaries for now,” he said.

“The government will review the political salaries framework and benchmark in due course to ensure that they remain relevant and up to date.”

Progress Singapore Party Non-Constituency MP Hazel Poa and Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC) had sought an update on the five-yearly salary review, including its terms of reference and whether it would proceed.

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The 2012 White Paper on Salaries for a Capable and Committed government had recommended that an independent committee be appointed every five years to review the salaries of the President, Prime Minister, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, political office-holders and MPs.

The last time such a committee was appointed was in 2017.

In 2018, the committee concluded that the salary framework remained “relevant and sound”, Chan said in January 2023.

Answering a similar question by Poa then, he said the next salary review was expected within the year.

In his Jan 9 reply to both Poa and Yam, Chan said the salary review committee had recommended a review of the salary framework “about every five years, or when necessary”.

The previous committee, chaired by accountant Gerard Ee, recommended in 2018 that political salaries be adjusted annually in line with the movement of benchmark salaries, which it noted had gone up by 9 per cent since the salary framework had been put in place.

Based on the recommendation, the annual salary for an MR4 grade entry-level minister would be raised to S$1.2 million from S$1.1 million.

However, the government decided not to make any changes to political salaries in 2018, as the salary structure remained valid and there were economic uncertainties in the previous few years, said Chan, who is also Minister for Education, in his written reply.

Ministerial salaries are benchmarked to the median income of the top 1,000 earners who are Singaporean citizens, with a 40 per cent discount to reflect the ethos of political service.

Those among the top 1,000 earners include people in senior management positions such as chief executives, chief operating officers and chief financial officers; people working in the financial services such as bankers, traders and asset managers; and professionals such as lawyers, doctors and accountants.

The reference monthly salary for an MR4 minister is S$55,000.

The salary levels of other political appointment holders are determined based on their salary ratios to MR4, and reflect their roles and responsibilities, said the Public Service Division (PSD) on its website.

The PSD also said on its website that the salaries of the political appointment holders are performance-linked, to ensure accountability, and are also linked to the socio-economic outcomes of Singaporeans. THE STRAITS TIMES