Thursday, March 2, 2006
DECLINING to reveal exactly how much each cabinet minister is paid, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday shot down the suggestion that ministers who hold multiple portfolios are paid multiple salaries.
In a written response to a question from Non-Constituency MP Steve Chia, Mr Lee said: "They receive only one salary based on the salary grade they are at."
But the Ministry of Finance — which publishes the manpower expenditure for each ministry's political appointment holders in the budget book annually — "does not intend to disclose the salaries" of individual cabinet ministers, he added.
Mr Chia, who is also the Secretary-General of the National Solidarity Party, had tabled a question on this, asking for the ministers' pay for FY2005 to be disclosed in bracket ranges of $250,000. He also asked how this salary compensation compares with the last disclosed figures in 2000.
To this, Mr Lee, who is also the Finance Minister, said: "The framework for setting ministerial salaries and the salary benchmarks were debated openly in Parliament when they were first formulated in 1994 and again in 2000 when they were revised."
The formula for the ministerial salary benchmark has remained unchanged since the last revision in 2000, he said.
"The benchmark is pegged to two-thirds of the income of the 24th highest earner (median) among a group comprising the top eight earners from six professions (bankers, accountants, engineers, lawyers, MNCs amd local manufacturers)," Mr Lee said, adding that ministers took wage cuts in November 2001 and July 2003.
Although these cuts were restored in July 2004 and January 2005 to pre-Nov 2001 levels, ministerial salaries have "lagged behind" the salary benchmarks compared to the year 2000, he added.
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