Review of Political Office Holders' Salaries
Prime Minister's OfficeSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the status of the 2023 review of political appointment holders' salaries as raised by Ms Hazel Poa. Minister Chan Chun Sing responded that while a review was due under the five-year cycle recommended in 2018, the Government has deferred the exercise. The Minister explained the deferment allows the Government to focus on pressing issues, including geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and global economic uncertainties. He noted that salaries remained unchanged after the 2018 review because the existing framework remained valid despite economic volatility and current inflationary pressures. The Government will review the political salaries framework and benchmarks in due course to ensure the system remains relevant and up to date.
Transcript
80 Ms Hazel Poa asked the Prime Minister (a) whether the targeted review of political appointment holders' salaries in 2023 was carried out; (b) if so, who are the members of the Committee conducting the review; (c) what are the terms of reference given to the Committee; and (d) when will the Committee's report be released.
Mr Chan Chun Sing (for the Prime Minister): As Member Mr Alex Yam had earlier filed a similar Parliamentary Question (PQ) for Written Answer, our response to the two PQs are similar.
The recommendations from the last political salaries review were announced in 2018. The salary review Committee recommended a review of the political salaries framework about every five years, or when necessary. The Government did not make any changes to political salaries following the 2018 review as the salary structure remained valid and there were economic uncertainties in the previous few years.
A review of the political salaries was due in 2023. However, the government decided to defer the review as we have other pressing issues to deal with. In 2023, the global geopolitical situation has become more uncertain, with conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and continuing heightened geopolitical contestation.
On the economic front, significant uncertainties and downside risks in the global economy remain, impacting our local economy and our wage and inflation outlooks. Hence, we decided to focus on dealing with these key challenges at hand and defer the review of political salaries for now.
The Government will review the political salaries framework and benchmark in due course to ensure that they remain relevant and up to date.