Singapore cabinet ministers and top civil servants will not be getting a pay rise for the second year running in view of the uncertain economic recovery, reports the Straits Times.
That reminds me of a recent article praising Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Singapore.
Ramzy Baroud, an Arab American author and journalist, wrote on the Khaleej Times website:
""In some ways, Singapore is the world’s most efficiently managed company."
Companies don't raise pay in bad times. That comes with good times.
Singapore has declared the recession over, with the economy growing 0.6 per cent in the third quarter compared with the same period last year.
But the government still expects the economy to shrink 2 to 2.5 per cent this year because of the recession that began last October.
So how should the government's performance be judged?
For pay rises tend to be based on performance.
Now how do you judge performance?
By benchmarking?
So let's compare Singapore with some of its major trading partners and the salaries paid to their leaders. The figures are taken from a list published by The Times in April. China, Malaysia, Indonesia and India are not included here since the list named only the world's 10 highest paid leaders.
We will look not only at the growth forecast and the unemployment rate but also at the total population and the size of the economy to assess the workload of each government. For, as Singapore leaders themselves say, Singapore's small size gives it the advantage of being quick to seize opportunities. The GDP and population data are taken from the World Trade Organization, and the rest from The Economist.
Singapore
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Salary in dollars: $2.19 million. In local currency: S$3.04 million, according to the Straits Times.
Population: 4.99 million
Unemployment: 3.4 per cent.
GDP (million current US$, 2008)
181,948
GDP (million current PPP US$, 2008)
238,503
Estimated growth this year: Minus 2 to minus 2.5 per cent.
Hong Kong
Chief Executive Donald Tsang
Salary in dollars: $516,000. In local currency: HK$4 million
Population (thousands, 2008)
6,978
Unemployment: 5.2 per cent
GDP (million current US$, 2008)
215,355
GDP (million current PPP US$, 2008)
306,487
Estimated growth this year: Minus 3.2 per cent.
USA
President Barack Obama
Salary in dollars: $400,000
Population (thousands, 2008)
304,060
Unemployment:10.2 percent
GDP (million current US$, 2008)
14,204,322
GDP (million current PPP US$, 2008)
14,204,322
Estimated growth this year: Minus 2.4 per cent.
UK
Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Salary in dollars: $319,599. In local currency: £194,250
Population (thousands, 2008)
61,399
Unemployment: 7.8 per cent
GDP (million current US$, 2008)
2, 645,593
GDP (million current PPP US$, 2008)
2,176,263
Estimated growth this year: Minus 4.5 per cent.
Australia
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
Salary in dollars: $299,000. In local currency: A$330,000
Population (thousands, 2008)
21,374
Unemployment: 5.8 per cent
GDP (million current US$, 2008)
1,015,217
GDP (million current PPP US$, 2008)
762,559
Estimated growth this year: 0.8 per cent.
Japan
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
Salary in dollars: $243,000. In local currency: Y24 million (This was the salary paid to his predecessor, Taro Aso, who was the prime minister when the list was published.)
Population (thousands, 2008)
127,704
Unemployment: 5.3 per cent
GDP (million current US$, 2008)
4,909,272
GDP (million current PPP US$, 2008)
4,354,550
Estimated growth this year: Minus 5.7 per cent.
The Times list of the world's 10 highest paid leaders published in April also included in fourth, fifth and sixth place — behind third-placed Obama but ahead of seventh-placed Gordon Brown:
4. Brian Cowen – Ireland
Salary in dollars: $341,000. In local currency: €257,000
5. Nicolas Sarkozy – France
Salary in dollars – $318,000. In local currency: €240,000
6. Angela Merkel – Germany
Salary in dollars – $303,000. In local currency: €228,000
Also on the list was
Stephen Harper – Canada
Salary in dollars: $246,000. In local currency: C$311,000.
The dollar figures were at the prevailing exchange rates.
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