Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is set for a pay rise of more than 60%, taking his annual remuneration above S$3.6 million (around Rs 22.9 crore) and further widening the gap between his pay and that of other world leaders, according to the BBC.
Wong, who is already the world's highest-paid head of government, currently earns about S$2.2 million a year. The increase will add around S$1.4 million to his annual package once it takes effect. Wong has said he will donate the additional amount to charity over the next five years.
The government said that the revised pay structure is meant to help Singapore attract stronger candidates into public office, building on the ruling People's Action Party's long-standing argument that high ministerial pay curbs the risk of corruption.
Wong told the broadcaster that recruiting senior business figures and civil servants into politics had grown difficult, adding that the state should not "make the financial hurdle unnecessarily high" for those willing to give up lucrative private-sector careers.
Even before the hike, no elected leader earns close to Wong's salary.
BBC's report noted that Hong Kong's chief executive, John Lee, takes home roughly $719,000 a year, while Switzerland's president earns about $606,000. By comparison, U.S. President Donald Trump draws an annual salary of $400,000, and British Prime Minister Andy Burnham receives $230,000.
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The overall base package for Singaporean ministers will rise from about S$1.1 million to S$1.2 million, with performance-linked components, tied to unemployment, income growth and GDP, pushing typical payouts closer to S$1.35 million by the end of the current government's term.
The report added that ministerial pay has repeatedly stirred public anger in Singapore, contributing to the PAP's weakest electoral showing in decades in 2011, after which salaries were cut the following year. Wong's predecessor, Lee Hsien Loong, had similarly redirected a pay increase to charity in 2007.
Meanwhile, the latest announcement has drawn fresh criticism online, with commentators calling the timing "tone deaf" amid rising retrenchments, which government data shows have hit a five-year high, alongside concerns over job prospects for new graduates and living costs.
ALSO READ: $2.8 Million Salary: Singapore PM's Pay Dwarfs Global Counterparts Even Before Million-Dollar Hike
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