HONG KONG • Hong Kong police officers have racked up more than HK$950 million (S$165 million) in overtime pay and other allowances for their long hours handling unprecedented pro-democracy protests in the Asian financial hub.

Roughly 11,000 officers put in extra shifts per month between June and November, a document uploaded by the legislature's Finance Committee showed yesterday.

The Hong Kong Police Force's total budget for wages, allowances and other operating costs in the current fiscal year was HK$20.2 billion, the document said.

The government said in reply to a lawmaker's request for more information on police pay that officers had been required to cover more than 900 protests, processions and public meetings since early June, "many of which eventually turned into illegal acts of violence".

Hong Kong police did not respond to a request for comment.

Although the impact of the historic protests has already shown up in sharply reduced retail sales and tourist arrivals in the city, the new figure offers the first real glimpse of the extra policing costs. Thousands of officers have been on duty nearly every weekend since the unrest began six months ago, while running street battles with protesters often stretch into the early hours.

The former British colony has been gripped by demonstrations since June, when large crowds took to the streets to oppose a Bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China.

Although Chief Executive Carrie Lam's government eventually withdrew the legislation, the rallies have continued and turned increasingly violent and disruptive.

Earlier this month, Financial Secretary Paul Chan forecast the city's first budget deficit since the early 2000s.

BLOOMBERG