The Athens Olympics cost more than eight billion euros ($10-billion), making them the most expensive in the movement’s 108-year history, the Greek press reported on Wednesday.
Greek Finance and Economy minister Yiorgos Alogoskoufis is expected to reveal the real cost in the coming days, the Eleftherotypia and Vima dailies reported.
Greek government sources refused to comment on the reports.
According to the latest available official estimate, the Olympics would cost around 7-billion euros, up from an initial budget of 4,6-billion euros.
Alogoskoufis said the final figures would be announced after the Paralympics which finished on Tuesday.
According to Wednesday’s reports, the overruns were mainly due to last-minute spending to catch up on delayed venue construction work and to security spending which included bonuses for the thousands of policemen and soldiers protecting the Games from possible terrorist attacks.
Previous estimates had Greece spending more than one billion euros on security for the Olympics, the first summer Games since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
The final bill was expected to include several road-building projects which were not absolutely necessary for the Games, but were included in the Olympic budget to upgrade the country’s infrastructure.
The bill has pushed Greece’s public deficit to levels prohibited by the European Union’s eurozone.
The public deficit of Greece, the smallest country to host the Olympics in 50 years, is expected to reach 5,3% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year. – Sapa-AFP