SINGAPORE: (Bernama) Singapore will raise the minimum qualifying salaries for Employment Pass (EP) and S Pass holders from January 2027, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said.
Wong, who is also the Finance Minister, made the announcement during the presentation of Budget Statement 2026 on Thursday (Feb 12).
He said the minimum qualifying salary for new foreign professional workers will increase to S$6,000 from S$5,600, while the threshold for the financial services sector will rise to S$6,600 from S$6,200.
He said foreign professionals and workers help strengthen the nation, transfer knowledge and enable companies to grow, which in turn creates more and better opportunities for Singaporeans.
"At the same time, we will continue to ensure that our foreign workforce complements a strong Singaporean core,” he said.
According to the prime minister, the qualifying salaries for older EP applicants will be raised in tandem and changes to the renewal applications will take effect in 2028 to give businesses more time to adjust.
In addition, the government will raise the qualifying salary for S Pass holders from S$3,000 to S$3,600, while the threshold for the financial sector will increase from S$3,800 to S$4,000.
"Qualifying salaries for older S Pass applicants will be raised in tandem, with changes to renewal applications taking effect one year later, from 2028,” said Wong.
Meanwhile, Wong announced that the government will adjust work permit levies for the marine and process sectors, with levies for basic-skilled workers rising by S$100 and S$150 respectively.
"For the manufacturing and services sectors, we will simplify the current tiered levy structure, and the details are in the annex to the Budget Statement,” he added. - Bernama
