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There are currently four ministerial grades \u2013 MR4, MR3, MR2 and MR1 \u2013 with a range of salary points within each grade which determine a minister\u2019s fixed pay, said Mr Wong.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs PM, I decide the grade of each minister; where each minister is positioned within the salary range for that grade; and the individual performance bonus each year,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n A total of 10 out of the 16 ministers are currently at MR4.<\/span><\/p>\n The other six are at higher grades, reflecting their seniority and heavier responsibilities, including those serving as coordinating ministers.<\/span><\/p>\n The three coordinating ministers are Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing who oversees public services, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung who oversees social policies, and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam who helms national security. The two senior ministers in Cabinet are Mr Shanmugam and former prime minister Lee Hsien Loong.<\/span><\/p>\n Over time, ministers can move to different salary points within their grade based on their performance, said Mr Wong.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey may begin at the lower end of the salary range. Those who perform well may move to a higher point within the range. Some ministers may also be promoted to a higher grade as they take on greater responsibilities,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n There are also variable components which make up more than one-third of a minister\u2019s annual remuneration, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n For instance, a National Bonus applies to all office holders, based on the outcomes specified in the framework.<\/span><\/p>\n An individual performance bonus also depends on the prime minister\u2019s assessment of each office holder\u2019s performance. Last year, it ranged from three to six months, said Mr Wong.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo when we refer to the current MR4 reference salary of S$1.1 million, this is an all-in reference figure. It includes fixed pay together with assumed levels of performance and bonus payouts,\u201d Mr Wong said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe actual remuneration received by an individual minister in any year can therefore be higher or lower than the reference salary, depending on his or her salary point and the variable payouts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In his speech, Mr Wong said that the prime minister\u2019s salary is set at twice the MR4 benchmark.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI have decided that, for the next five years \u2013 assuming I remain PM \u2013 I will donate the full increase in my salary arising from this adjustment,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n He will continue to receive his salary as provided for under the framework, and will then \u201cdonate the increase to suitable good causes\u201d, said Mr Wong.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis is my own decision. I do not expect other office holders to do the same. As a general rule, I do not believe in making a public show of charitable giving.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Mr Wong said that, as prime minister, he carries the \u201cultimate responsibility\u201d for the salary framework, and so \u201cit is right that Singaporeans should know what I have decided, and that I am taking these changes forward because I believe they are in Singapore\u2019s interests\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n He will review the position again at the end of five years, taking into account the circumstances at that time.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI fully expect to continue supporting good causes, as I have always done. But I do not want to make an open-ended public commitment, or to create an expectation that future prime ministers may feel obliged to follow,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n The review committee also recommended combining the MR2 and MR3 grades into one, bringing the number of tiers down from four to three, said Mr Wong.<\/span><\/p>\n The salary range for each grade will also be widened to plus or minus 25 per cent, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe agree with these changes. But the basic approach to assessing and differentiating individual salaries will remain the same,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAfter the one-off special adjustment, I will continue to assess ministers and adjust their salaries in the usual way, based on performance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n On that basis, he expects most ministers who remain at MR4 to be at the lower end of the new salary range \u2013 about S$1.35 million \u2013 by the end of this term of government.<\/span><\/p>\n Mr Wong said that those who excel and take on larger responsibilities may move higher within the range, or be promoted to a higher grade.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo the revised MR4 benchmark of S$1.8 million is not a target salary that every minister must eventually reach. Ministers can be paid above or below the benchmark, within the prescribed range,\u201d he noted.<\/span><\/p>\n For ministers of state, parliamentary secretaries and mayors, Mr Wong said he would \u201ctypically consult their supervising ministers on their performance\u201d, but noted that the final decision on their salary points, grades and bonuses rests with him.<\/span><\/p>\n New office holders appointed in the next term will likewise come in at different points within those ranges, taking into account their experience and previous remuneration, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n This would over time bring a wider spread in salaries compared to today, which is the purpose of the revised structure, said Mr Wong.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt gives the PM more room to differentiate pay according to performance, and importantly, to bring in people with substantial experience from outside government, especially those already earning significantly more in the private sector,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n While they are still expected to make a \u201cmeaningful sacrifice\u201d to enter political service, \u201cwe should not make that gap larger than it needs to be\u201d, said Mr Wong.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOverall, I believe this will give me and future prime ministers a better chance of persuading capable Singaporeans to step forward, and of building the strongest possible team for Singapore,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n The government\u2019s response to the review committee\u2019s recommendations will be debated in parliament on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n MINISTERS\u2019 WAGE PACKAGE There are currently four ministerial grades \u2013 MR4, MR3, MR2 and MR1 \u2013 with a range of salary points within each grade…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":83197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dam.mediacorp.sg\/image\/upload\/s--74u2zv2_--\/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1\/mediacorp\/cna\/image\/2025\/04\/08\/singapore_parliament.png?itok=pnV3ccq7","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[21781,1780,16707,14289,28,29670,15894],"class_list":["post-83196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-news-sg-global","tag-committees","tag-increase","tag-ministerial","tag-recommendation","tag-review","tag-s1-2m","tag-salaries","wpcat-2-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/83197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}PM DONATES SALARY INCREASE TO CHARITY<\/h2>\n
STREAMLINING MINISTERIAL GRADES<\/h2>\n
OTHER OFFICE HOLDERS<\/h2>\n
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