Singapore’s 76,000 civil servants will get a total of 1.75 months end-of-year bonus this year, said the Public Service Division (PSD) on Thursday.
The payout comprises of the 13th-month payment and an additional 0.75 month payout. The latter, the annual variable component (AVC), was decided after the PSD took into account the 5.4 per cent economic growth in the first three quarters of 2011 and the overall growth forecast for the year, said PSD in a statement.
The news comes amid a gloomy global economic outlook, with Singapore predicting sharply lower economic growth of around 5 per cent this year and a further slowdown to between 1 and 3 per cent next year.
“Near-term growth could be affected by easing global demand and heightened economic and financial uncertainties especially due to the Eurozone debt crisis and sluggish growth in the advanced economies,” noted PSD.
Unlike last year where civil servants received up to 1.6 months of Growth Bonus, there will be no such bonus this year as it is only given out when the economy registers strong economic growth.
Civil servants also received two months bonus payout, comprising of a month's salary for an AVC and another month for the 13th-month payment, at the end of last year, when the economy grew by 14.5 per cent.
In July this year, civil servants received a mid-year bonus of half-a-month's salary and $250 after a strong economic performance in the first quarter. The one-off cash payment of $250 was given based on the National Wages Council recommendation to assist low-wage workers with rising price.
Then, the PSD said the government would decide on the year-end bonus for civil servants after considering the Republic's economic performance in the second half of 2011.
Singaporean director Anthony Chen described as “surreal” the 15-minute standing ovation that followed the world premiere of his debut feature film "Ilo Ilo" at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday. Though the ending of the premiere couldn’t have been more perfect, the 29-year-old Chen said the beginning was quite “nerve-wrecking” as it was marred by technical glitches.