Hong Kong authorities have allocated HK$5 billion (US$638 million) in funding for efforts to safeguard national security, bringing the total amount earmarked for this purpose to HK$18 billion over the past five years, an official document has revealed.

The South China Morning Post’s check on the government’s general revenue expenditure accounts for the financial year ending in March 2026, showed a non-recurrent expenditure of HK$5 billion earmarked for a “special fund to meet the expenditure for safeguarding national security”.

This funding marks the third non-recurrent expenditure from the city government for national security spending. The Hong Kong government had previously earmarked HK$8 billion in the 2021-22 budget and another HK$5 billion in the 2023-24 financial year, bringing accumulated funding to HK$18 billion.

National security budgets and staffing in the city were approved by the chief executive and were not subjected to any restrictions within the city’s laws, the Treasury said in the document. This expenditure was not included in the government’s budget document and estimates in the 2025-26 budget.

Only the first appropriation of HK$8 billion was included in the estimated revenue and expenditure of several government accounts in the 2021-22 budget.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po had said in 2024 that national security expenses were handled through a separate budget from the Committee for Safeguarding National Security.