World's highest paid PM, Singapore's Lawrence Wong, gets a salary hike; set to draw ₹27 crore a year

Lawrence Wong, whose current salary is $1.7 million, said the government cannot attract top talent into politics if salaries remain unchanged.

Updated on: Sep 9, 2026, 16:33:36 IST

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Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will reportedly soon draw an annual salary of 3.6 million Singapore dollars ($2.8 million), which nearly equals to ₹27 crore in Indian currency. Other ministers are also set for a revised salary – the fist hike in 15 years.

Singapore ministers are already among the world's highest paid ministers and under the new framework, the benchmark annual pay for a minister at the lowest grade will rise to 1.8 million Singapore dollars ($1.42 million), from 1.1 million Singapore dollars ($868,330), Wong was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. Wong, whose current salary is 2.2 million Singapore dollars ($1.7 million), reportedly said the government cannot attract top talent into politics if salaries remain unchanged.

The salary hike will be applicable for the ministers, while allowances for other lawmakers also will increase.

US President Donald Trump gets $400,000 a year, while Swiss President Guy Parmelin is paid about $600,000.

How the salary hikes will roll out

Ministers and other political officeholders will not immediately move to the new salary benchmark, Wong said. Instead, they will get a one-time adjustment up to 9% beginning Oct. 15, with the increase depending on performance and responsibilities.

Wong expects most ministers at the lowest grade to earn about 1.35 million Singapore dollars ($1.06 million) by the end of the current term. Salaries thereafter will vary by performance and responsibilities, rather than automatically reaching the benchmark of 1.8 million Singapore dollars, he said.

He didn't say how much his salary would be, although a 9% adjustment would raise it to 2.4 million Singapore dollars ($1.89 million). Wong said he would donate his entire salary increase to charity for the next five years.

What Singapore PM said on salary revisions

Singapore chose to deal with political remuneration openly, with no hidden salary components or perks outside the published framework, Wong said.

“Good government did not come naturally to Singapore. It was built deliberately over many years. And there is nothing automatic about sustaining this,” he was quoted as saying.

The government understood why Singaporeans scrutinise ministers’ pay but argued that the issue could not be avoided simply because it was uncomfortable. Ministerial salaries had increasingly fallen behind comparable earnings in the private sector and civil service, making a review necessary, Wong said.

He told lawmakers on Tuesday he will donate the increment for the next five years.

“Political salaries are a difficult and emotive issue — the sums involved are more than what most citizens earn,” Wong said in parliament. “It is ultimately about whether Singapore will continue to have the quality of political leadership we need to take our country forward," he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

Wong said he failed to persuade several corporate leaders, who were earning several times a minister’s salary, to join politics before the 2025 election. While pay wasn’t cited as a reason, that doesn’t mean remuneration is irrelevant, he added said.

“I have not given up,” Wong said. “I am still looking and I hope to persuade a few to join us in the next election.”

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