Ministers and lawmakers in Singapore will forgo a month's salary to show solidarity with fellow countrymen who suffer losses due to coronavirus outbreak.
Singapore president, cabinet ministers including the prime minister and political office-holders will take a one-month pay cut to 'show solidarity with fellow Singaporeans’ coping with the coronavirus outbreak, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said.
Senior public service officers have agreed to take a half-month reduction in their salaries.
Heng announced in the Singapore Parliament that the government will reward public officers on the front line in the battle against COVID-19 with a special bonus of up to one month.
“This will include many healthcare officers in the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the restructured hospitals, and some officers in other front line agencies who have been directly involved,” he said.
Heng, who is also Finance Minister, said that other public officers who contributed significantly would also be recognised in “appropriate ways.”
The moves follows announcements made by state-owned firms and private companies taking a cut in bonuses and freeze of salary. Singapore’s state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte announced company-wide wage freeze and asked senior management to take voluntary pay cut for up to a year in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The money saved by these measures will be donated to staff volunteer initiatives.
Firms have agreed to pass on to tenants the property-tax rebate offered as part of a $4 billion anti-virus stimulus package.
While the number of confirmed cases in Singapore has climbed to more than 266 cases, 96 people have recovered from the infection.
