The Athens Olympics will cost a total of almost 10 billion ($12.09 billion), more than double the original target, pushing Greece's budget gap well above EU limits, finance ministry sources said on Wednesday.
The original Games budget was set at 4.6 billion, but a rising security bill and overruns in construction costs have prompted several upward revisions in recent months.
"The estimate is that the total cost of the Olympic Games will be close to 10 billion, mainly due to overruns in spending," the official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
"For example, the costs of security will exceed the 1 billion euro target," he said.
Within the last two months the Greek government has twice raised its cost estimates first to 6 billion and last week to more than 7 billion. Deputy finance minister Petros Doukas has also warned higher costs will push Greece's budget deficit above 4 percent of gross domestic product this year.
On Wednesday another finance ministry official said that following a deficit overshoot last year and higher-than-planned spending this year the 2004 budget shortfall was set to come around 4.5 percent, well above the European Union's three percent limit.
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