Hong Kong police pot for informer payments and confidential operations hits HK$165 million for 2024-25; total budget goes up to HK$27.8 billion

Expenditure on ‘rewards and special services’ up HK$23.6 million, a 16.4 per cent increase

Force says boost caused mostly by ‘increased provision for operational need’ on confidential operations, informer payments and bounties for wanted people

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Hong Kong police are to spend more on payments to informers, confidential operations and for bounties. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 10:37pm, 29 Feb 2024Updated: 1:35am, 1 Mar 2024

The Hong Kong police budget for payments to informers and confidential operations will hit HK$165 million (US$21 million) in the new financial year, a government document has revealed.

The figure represented a HK$23.6 million – 16.7 per cent – increase for “rewards and special services” and was included in a 1,000-page budget document that estimated revenue and expenditure for a variety of government services.

“The increase of HK$23.6 million, 16.7 per cent, over the revised estimate for 2023–24 is mainly due to the increased provision for operational need,” the document said.

The police “rewards and special services” category covers expenses related to confidential operations, as well as bounties on wanted people and payments to informers.

The police force budget has gone up to HK$27.8 billion for the 2024-25 financial year. Photo: May Tse

A force spokesman on Thursday declined to give details on the increase for security reasons.