Advisers to Hong Kong leader back 2.6 per cent pay rises for top officials, with No 2 official potentially earning HK$396,000
- Independent commission suggests adjusting pay for senior officials in line with changes in average annual inflation since 2019
- Increase will not apply to chief executive, who earns more than HK$400,000 per month
Top officials in Hong Kong’s next administration could be paid at least 2.6 per cent more, with the city’s No 2 official potentially earning HK$396,000 (US$50,450) a month, after the leader’s de facto cabinet endorsed salary recommendations by an independent panel.
Yet any increase would not apply to the chief executive, who earns more than HK$400,000 per month, and it remained unclear whether John Lee Ka-chiu, the sole candidate in the leadership election to be decided on Sunday, would be earning more than outgoing leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.
In 2020 and 2021, Lam froze the salary of political appointees amid the coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn. The monthly salary of 16 senior officials has remained at their 2019 levels of between HK$348,100 to HK$386,950.
But according to a government paper, a review by an independent commission recommended “the pay freeze should not be taken into account as it is a decision made by the [current] government under the prevailing social, economic and political environment”.
“The pay freeze is also voluntary in nature and is only applicable to [politically-appointed officials] serving in the fifth-term government,” the paper reads.
The commission suggested that for the next term of government, the cash pay for senior officials should be adjusted in accordance with the change in average annual inflation since 2019, which was about 2.6 per cent, plus the latest inflation rate of this month, which has yet to be announced.