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Olympic spending to be released by June

By Cui Xiaohuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-10 15:20

Beijing's vice mayor said on Saturday the total spending that ran the Beijing Olympics will be released by June.

Liu Jingmin, who is also the executive vice-president for the Beijing Olympic organizers, ruled out the possibility of releasing the audited Olympic spending during next week's Beijing's annual legislative meeting.

It is also unlikely to release the number during the annual National People's Congress and Political Consultative Conference in March, he said when responding to China Daily's question on the timetable of Beijing Olympics' actual balance.

"The audition for the spending has yet to start, but the final account should be released in the first half of this year," Liu said.

Liu was attending a high-profile ceremony for an Olympic publication at the Beijing Conference Center in Beijing on Saturday.

During Beijing's bidding for the 2008 Olympics, spending for the event was estimated at $1.61 billion, while an estimated income of $1.63 billion.

But the cost to run the Games increased to over $2 billion after anti-terror spending was added and the Chinese currency RMB fluctuated.

Beijing officials said last year that the cost of the Olympic venues are kept under 1.3 billion yuan  ($190 million).

But to build more facilities to smoothen the city during the Games, Beijing has spent almost 130 billion yuan to revamp its infrastructure, including its environmental facilities and public transport, in the past five years.

Issues concerning Beijing's development in the post-Olympic time are likely to top the meeting agenda during Beijing's week-long local legislative and political consultative conferences which will be held starting Sunday.