Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will receive a substantial 64% increase in his annual salary, raising his compensation package to 3.6 million Singapore dollars ($2.85 million). This adjustment follows a 15-year hiatus in salary recalibration for ministers. Wong announced the changes in parliament, emphasizing that the package includes both fixed and variable components. He also committed to donating his entire salary increase to charity for five years, provided he remains in office.

The raise accentuates the already significant disparity between Wong’s earnings and that of other world leaders. At $2.85 million, his pay is over four times that of the Swiss president and seven times more than the $400,000 salary of the U.S. president. Moreover, Wong’s earnings surpass the combined statutory salaries of leaders from the U.S., Switzerland, Australia, Canada, South Korea, and New Zealand when converted to U.S. dollars, though some of these figures exclude allowances or bonuses.

Singapore’s ministerial pay system, known as the “clean wage” model, links political salaries to the private sector. The base benchmark, the MR4 grade, is calculated at a 40% reduction from the median income of the top 1,000 Singaporean earners. This benchmark will increase from $1.1 million to $1.8 million, with the prime minister’s pay set at twice this level. The government argues this competitive compensation attracts skilled individuals who might otherwise remain in the private sector, maintaining a transparent salary system devoid of hidden perks.

Wong clarified that not all ministers will see immediate pay hikes of the same magnitude. Current officeholders will get one-off salary adjustments of up to 9%, based on performance and previous adjustments, starting October 15. Further increases depend on responsibility levels and job performance. Acknowledging public sensitivity around political salaries, Wong stressed the importance of openness and transparency in addressing these issues, despite their political difficulty.