Philip Lowe ‘s salary: Australia’s highest-paid public servant received a $26,000 pay rise in 2020 even though everyone else suffered a 2.9 per cent pay cut.
Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Dr Philip Lowe this year was paid a total salary package of $1,085,463 – up from $1,059,761 in 2019.
This $25,702 pay rise represented a 2.4 per cent annual increase – ironically in the middle of the RBA’s elusive two to per cent inflation target.
His remuneration in the 2019-20 financial year bulged even though workers across 19 sectors saw their pay levels plunge by 2.9 per cent, on average over six months, from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March to September.
Australia’s highest-paid public servant received a $23,000 pay rise in 2020 even though everyone else suffered a 2.9 per cent pay cut. Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Dr Philip Lowe this year was paid a salary of $1,085,463 – up from $1,059,761 in 2019
Dr Lowe is paid handsomely to attend 11, or sometimes 12, monthly interest rate meetings.
He is also Australia’s highest paid public servant running a commonwealth government agency.
Only Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate earns more, getting $2.6million to organise parcel and letter deliveries.
The head of the Reserve Bank earns more than triple the salary of his American counterpart Jerome Powell, who is paid $US203,500 ($A287,700) to chair the US Federal Reserve.
His salary is also 12 times higher than Australia’s average, full-time wage of $89,123 and almost double that of Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured in Cairns), who in April declined to intervene to rein in his $549,250 salary
His salary is also 12 times higher than Australia’s average, full-time wage of $89,123 and almost double that of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who in April declined to intervene to rein in his $549,250 salary.
The RBA’s annual report was released on Thursday, the week after Dr Lowe chose to leave interest rates on hold at a record low of 0.25 per cent.
Australian Bureau of Statistics payrolls data showed wages have fallen by 2.9 per cent since the start of the pandemic in March.
The accommodation and food services sector suffered a mammoth 12.3 per cent plunge in pay levels in the six months to September 19, largely as a result of the coronavirus shutdowns.
The head of the Reserve Bank earns more than triple the salary of his American counterpart Jerome Powell, who is paid $US203,500 ($A287,700) to chair the US Federal Reserve
The Remuneration Tribunal independently sets the salaries of commonwealth office holders, including Dr Lowe.
Treasury is expecting Australia’s gross government debt levels to surpass the $1trillion mark by June 2022 for the first time ever as a result of massive COVID-19 stimulus measures.
Nonetheless Dr Lowe said this wasn’t a problem.
‘Debt across all levels of government in Australia, relative to the size of our economy, is much lower than in many other countries and it is likely to remain so,’ he said on Thursday.
Dr Lowe is paid handsomely to attend 11, or sometimes 12, monthly interest rate meetings. He is also Australia’s highest paid public servant running a commonwealth government agency.
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