Top Hong Kong officials in line for 12.4pc pay rise
First increase since 2002 is necessary to attract top talent to join government, minister says
Hong Kong’s top officials can expect a 12.4 per cent pay rise in the next term, the first increase in 15 years, the government announced on Monday while warning that it was getting increasingly difficult to attract talent because of the city’s political atmosphere.
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam Chi-yuen said the proposed double-digit pay hike was “very moderate and reasonable”, and “only fair”, given that salaries for top officials had remained frozen since the political appointment system was introduced in 2002.
“It is increasingly difficult to get people to join the government and to become a principal official given the prevailing political circumstances,” he said.
The pay rise will factor in cumulative inflation since 2012, and a new mechanism will adjust ministers’ pay annually in line with the Consumer Price Index used for households in the relatively high expenditure range, similar to the existing system for the remuneration of Legislative Council members.
The independent commission tasked to come up with the pay recommendations also proposed a unified salary level for future appointments of ministers’ political assistants to reflect candidates’ backgrounds and job duties. The commission recommended that the cash remuneration for each political assistant be capped at 35 per cent of that for a minister, or not more than HK$104,340 a month, based on ministers’ current monthly pay of HK$298,115.