# Singapore boosts PM’s pay to $2.8 million — retained record

> Retained news record from news:semafor.

Canonical: https://highsignal.app/data/records/5afbd3a270bf3835

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source: [news](https://highsignal.app/data/news) (news:semafor)  published 2026-09-09 10:32 ingested 2026-09-09 11:01

[original source ↗](https://www.semafor.com/article/09/09/2026/singapore-boosts-pms-pay-to-28-million)

## retained text



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Singapore increased its prime minister’s salary to $2.8 million, part of its longstanding strategy to boost talent and reduce corruption. For comparison, the UK’s premier earns $230,000 and the US president $400,000. Singapore’s first prime minister argued in 1955 that low pay meant top candidates rarely joined politics and faced temptation when they did.
The city state has a carrot-and-stick model: Politicians’ pay is pegged to the country’s top 1,000 earners, but corruption is reliably punished. Whether the strategy reduces graft is a live debate — Singapore is third-lowest of 182 countries on one index, but Hong Kong, with much lower pay, also scores well. The policy does, however, seem to make it easier to attract qualified candidates.
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document fetched 2026-09-10 02:57 · canonical https://semafor.com/article/09/09/2026/singapore-boosts-pms-pay-to-28-million