Singapore PM to earn 5 times more than Bush

Singapore's prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, will earn five times more than US President George Bush this year after a pay rise yesterday boosted his annual salary to S$3.1 million ($2.1 million).

A minister told parliament yesterday that other Singapore government ministers - who are already among the best paid in the world - will also see their salaries jump by about 60 percent to an average of S$1.9 million ($1.26 million).

"For the public service to remain an attractive employer, our terms must keep pace with the private sector," Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also minister in charge of the civil service, said in parliament.