Now is not the time to talk about a pay cut for undersecretaries and political assistants, Executive Council convenor Leung Chun-ying says.
His remark came after political parties called for a pay freeze or pay cut for the appointees.
An appointment committee headed by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen will soon announce whether the salaries of the nine undersecretaries and nine political assistants will be adjusted.
'It is not time to talk about a pay cut,' Leung said. 'In the government team, the pay levels of different positions are linked with one another.'
The monthly salaries of bureau undersecretaries range from HK$197,453 to HK$211,557, while those of political assistants range from HK$126,933 to HK$155,139. Their salaries were cut by 5.38 per cent under a voluntary pay-cut proposal in June last year, when the government announced a reduction of the same percentage in senior civil servants' pay.
Leung said the government should use high salaries to attract and retain appointees. Pay levels in the industrial, commercial and professional sectors were now rising, especially in the senior ranks.
The correct attitude was that the government should use a higher salary - although it very often could not be higher than what private enterprises offered - to attract and retain talent, he said.
