The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today
(Thursday) the pay adjustments for staff of the HKMA to take effect
in April 2003. The adjustments have been determined by the Exchange
Fund Advisory Committee (EFAC) on the recommendations of the EFAC
Remuneration and Finance Sub-Committee following its annual review
of HKMA pay.
For staff at the level of Division Head and below, EFAC has
decided to freeze the Fixed Pay and to cut 8.8% in Variable Pay.
This is in addition to the 40% cut in Variable Pay in 2002.
Variable Pay was built up primarily through transfers from Fixed
Pay over the years and is paid annually to individual HKMA staff in
addition to their Fixed Pay. The exact amount paid to each
individual staff varies according to his or her performance during
the previous year.
On the advice of the Remuneration and Finance Sub-Committee,
EFAC has determined separate pay adjustments for the senior three
tiers of staff to take into account the relevant recommendations of
the Hay review as well as the annual pay review for the HKMA. The
pay adjustments for 2003 take the form of cuts in Fixed Pay of
2.11% for the Executive Directors and 3.14% for the Deputy Chief
Executives, with the agreement of the individuals concerned. The
Variable Pay awarded to individual senior staff in 2003 varies
according to performance.
The Fixed Pay of the Chief Executive of the HKMA will, with his
agreement, be cut by 5.24%. This is in addition to the Chief
Executive's voluntary cut of 10% in October 2001. The Fixed Pay of
the Chief Executive will be revised to HK$6.49 million per annum.
The Variable Pay for the Chief Executive is increased by 15%, in
recognition of his excellent performance in 2002, from HK$1.5
million to HK$1.725 million. Taking the adjustments to Fixed and
Variable Pay together, these decisions represent a cut of 1.8% in
the total compensation of the Chief Executive.
Pay for HKMA staff is reviewed annually by the Remuneration and
Finance Sub-Committee on the basis of established methodology, as
modified by the relevant Hay recommendations, taking into account
pay surveys conducted by independent external consultants, an
assessment by EFAC of the performance of the HKMA during the
previous year, and other relevant factors. Recommendations on pay
adjustments are made by the Sub-Committee, which comprises all of
the non-banking, non-official Members of EFAC, to EFAC for formal
endorsement.
"In accepting the recommendations of the Remuneration and
Finance Sub-Committee, I am grateful to the Sub-Committee, chaired
by Mr Marvin Cheung, for the hard work it has put into conducting
this review. The HKMA and its staff, under the leadership of Joseph
Yam, have performed very well during a difficult year. Financial
stability in Hong Kong was maintained, and the investment return of
the Exchange Fund was above the benchmark. I should also like to
express my appreciation of the voluntary acceptance of senior staff
of reductions in their Fixed Pay during these times of economic
difficulties when the pressure and complexity of their work has
increased," said Mr Antony Leung, the Financial Secretary and
Chairman of EFAC.
Pay adjustments determined in this review exercise are in
addition to the ongoing efforts of the HKMA to reduce payroll cost
through headcount reductions and freezes. A total of 31 posts were
deleted in 2002. Two senior posts have been frozen so far in 2003,
and a further 6 posts will be deleted. Together these headcount
deletions and freezes produce annual savings of HK$24.3 million, or
6.4% of the current total payroll.
The reduction in the HKMA's payroll through pay cuts and
headcount adjustments in 2002 and 2003 form part of a co-ordinated
effort to reduce expenditure. The total administrative expenses for
the HKMA were reduced by 9%, or HK$65.2 million, in 2002. The
administrative budget for 2003 has been reduced by a further
2.1%.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Sylvia Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
27 March 2003
