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Athens Games cost over 7 bn euros: Minister
The 2004 Athens Games has cost Greece more than seven billion euros making them the most expensive Olympics of all time.
The 2004 Athens Games has cost Greece more than seven billion euros making them the most expensive Olympics of all time, the Greek government warned on Sunday.
The final cost of bringing the Olympics back home will not be known until the end of the month, but Greek Economics minister Georges Alogoskoufis was preparing the ground on Sunday for some painful news.
"The total will be greater than forecast," he predicted in an interview with Ethnos.
The last official estimate given by the Greek finance minister Petros Doukas in August put the cost at over seven billion euros compared to original forecasts of just 4.6bn euros.
Last month reports in local media suggested the figure wouyld be nearer eight billion euros.
Alogoskoufis said the pain of paying for the costliest Games ever would be softened by the legacy the sporting festival left in terms of tourism and new infrastructure.
The bill has pushed Greece's public deficit high above the authorised limit within the European Union's eurozone.
The smallest country to host the Olympics in 50 years, Greece's deficit is expected to reach 5.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, in breach of the three-percent eurozone limit.
Greece is thought to have spent close to one billion euros on security alone, for the first summer Games since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
