<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published November 25, 2008
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>GDP slide to hit pay of ministers, civil servants
Some could see salaries fall by up to 19% next year
By CHUANG PECK MING
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(SINGAPORE) Ministers and senior officials, who have a sizable chunk of their salaries linked to the performance of Singapore's gross domestic product, will see their annual pay fall by up to 19 per cent next year as the economy heads into rough weather.
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</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Civil servants will still receive the one-month annual wage supplement - the 13th month pay - and year-end annual variable component (AVC), but the AVC will be 0.5 month's pay - down from one month's salary last year, the Public Service Division said last night in a press release.
Civil servants already took home a variable payment of 0.5 month's pay plus $100-$300 in July this year.
There will be no special growth bonus this year, unlike in 2007 when a special growth bonus of 0.5 month's pay was given out.
As such, the total AVC and 13th month payment for civil servants is 2 months' pay plus $100-$300, or about one month's worth of pay less than the amount dished out in 2007. Civil servants were then given 3 months' pay plus $220 - including growth bonus.
The government has also deferred the third phase of the salary adjustments for administrative officers, political, judicial and statutory appointment holders, which was due in January 2009. 'This group of officers will see a salary drop of up to 19 per cent in 2009 because of salary components which are linked to Singapore's economic growth,' PSD said.
The pay-cut announcement came in the wake of the latest growth figures unveiled last Friday, which show gross domestic product dipped 0.6 per cent in the third quarter. And while 2008 is still likely to see growth in the economy - 'around 2.5 per cent' - the Ministry of Trade and Industry said the economy could dip by one per cent in 2009.
Because of this 'clouded economic outlook and the likelihood that salaries will be lower next year', PSD said the government has decided to defer the January 2009 salary adjustment.
Ministers and senior officers have already seen two recent rounds of salary adjustments - in April 2007 and in January this year.
'Salaries for this group will fall in 2009 because a significant percentage of their annual salaries (close to 25 per cent of the annual salary in 2008) comprises variable payments linked to the GDP growth of Singapore,' PSD said. 'With a weak economy, these components will automatically fall.' It said this group would see their annual pay package in 2009 shrink by 11-19 per cent, bringing their salaries below the April 2007 levels.
Specifically, PSD said the annual salaries of President S R Nathan and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong would drop 19 per cent to $3.14 million and $3.04 million respectively.
The Ministerial grade, or Staff Grade I (MR4), salaries will fall 18 per cent to $1.57 million, from $1.94 million. Salaries at the entry Superscale grade (SR9) will go down 12 per cent, from $398,000 to $353,000.
Members of Parliament will also take a 16 per cent cut in their allowance, leaving them with $190,000.
'Public sector salaries follow the market up and down,' said Teo Chee Hean, Defence Minister and Minister in charge of the Civil Service. 'The mechanism allows salaries to respond more rapidly to market conditions.'
The annual pay of an administrative officer in Staff Grade I is pegged to two-thirds of the pay of the 24th highest earner (median) among a group made up of the top eight earners from six professions.
The annual pay of an administrative officer in the entry SR9 grade is pegged to the annual salary of the 15th top earner among a group comprising the top eight earners aged 32 years from the six professions.
PSD yesterday also said PM Lee has donated and would continue to donate all increases in his own pay over the level before the April 2007 revisions to good causes for five years.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>GDP slide to hit pay of ministers, civil servants
Some could see salaries fall by up to 19% next year
By CHUANG PECK MING
<TABLE class=storyLinks cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
</TD><TD>Email this article</TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
</TD><TD>Print article </TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>(SINGAPORE) Ministers and senior officials, who have a sizable chunk of their salaries linked to the performance of Singapore's gross domestic product, will see their annual pay fall by up to 19 per cent next year as the economy heads into rough weather.
<TABLE class=picBoxL cellSpacing=2 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Civil servants will still receive the one-month annual wage supplement - the 13th month pay - and year-end annual variable component (AVC), but the AVC will be 0.5 month's pay - down from one month's salary last year, the Public Service Division said last night in a press release.Civil servants already took home a variable payment of 0.5 month's pay plus $100-$300 in July this year.
There will be no special growth bonus this year, unlike in 2007 when a special growth bonus of 0.5 month's pay was given out.
As such, the total AVC and 13th month payment for civil servants is 2 months' pay plus $100-$300, or about one month's worth of pay less than the amount dished out in 2007. Civil servants were then given 3 months' pay plus $220 - including growth bonus.
The government has also deferred the third phase of the salary adjustments for administrative officers, political, judicial and statutory appointment holders, which was due in January 2009. 'This group of officers will see a salary drop of up to 19 per cent in 2009 because of salary components which are linked to Singapore's economic growth,' PSD said.
The pay-cut announcement came in the wake of the latest growth figures unveiled last Friday, which show gross domestic product dipped 0.6 per cent in the third quarter. And while 2008 is still likely to see growth in the economy - 'around 2.5 per cent' - the Ministry of Trade and Industry said the economy could dip by one per cent in 2009.
Because of this 'clouded economic outlook and the likelihood that salaries will be lower next year', PSD said the government has decided to defer the January 2009 salary adjustment.
Ministers and senior officers have already seen two recent rounds of salary adjustments - in April 2007 and in January this year.
'Salaries for this group will fall in 2009 because a significant percentage of their annual salaries (close to 25 per cent of the annual salary in 2008) comprises variable payments linked to the GDP growth of Singapore,' PSD said. 'With a weak economy, these components will automatically fall.' It said this group would see their annual pay package in 2009 shrink by 11-19 per cent, bringing their salaries below the April 2007 levels.
Specifically, PSD said the annual salaries of President S R Nathan and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong would drop 19 per cent to $3.14 million and $3.04 million respectively.
The Ministerial grade, or Staff Grade I (MR4), salaries will fall 18 per cent to $1.57 million, from $1.94 million. Salaries at the entry Superscale grade (SR9) will go down 12 per cent, from $398,000 to $353,000.
Members of Parliament will also take a 16 per cent cut in their allowance, leaving them with $190,000.
'Public sector salaries follow the market up and down,' said Teo Chee Hean, Defence Minister and Minister in charge of the Civil Service. 'The mechanism allows salaries to respond more rapidly to market conditions.'
The annual pay of an administrative officer in Staff Grade I is pegged to two-thirds of the pay of the 24th highest earner (median) among a group made up of the top eight earners from six professions.
The annual pay of an administrative officer in the entry SR9 grade is pegged to the annual salary of the 15th top earner among a group comprising the top eight earners aged 32 years from the six professions.
PSD yesterday also said PM Lee has donated and would continue to donate all increases in his own pay over the level before the April 2007 revisions to good causes for five years.
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