SHANGHAI, May 15 (Reuters) - China's securities
regulator and central bank cut the budget allocation for
employee salaries in 2023, following reforms ordered as part of
a broader drive to reduce income disparity.
The 2023 budget report for the China Securities Regulatory
Commission (CSRC) was released on Friday, while the People's
Bank of China (PBOC) budget report was released in late March.
The CSRC's budget for total staff salaries and benefits
dropped to 170.3 million yuan ($24.64 million), 17% lower than
in 2022, according to Reuters calculations based on the CSRC's
budget report.
The PBOC's budget for salaries and stipends was 10.6% lower
at 21 billion yuan ($3.04 billion), Reuters calculations showed.
Analysts said central bank and CSRC staff had faced possible
pay cuts as a result of the reforms to financial regulatory
bodies announced in March that had called for their staff's pay
to be put on par with public servants. The reforms also
envisaged a 5% reduction in staff levels.
Wages at leading Chinese investment banks have also been
trending downward amid a slowing economy and the government's
"common prosperity" rhetoric.
China's anti-corruption body in February pledged to
eliminate notions of a "financial elite" and "parity with the
West" as well as hedonism and the excessive pursuit of money
and "high-end tastes".
($1 = 6.9121 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; editing by Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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