It seems that, despite the fact that the Athens Olympics ended a year ago, the costs just keep rising.
The Games, seen as the most expensive ever, are now expected to top £9BN.
It seems that many items, spent by local authorities, were simply excluded from the original budget. Doubtless this was done deliberately by the then government, so as to ensure that they got an "easy ride" from the opposition.
The new costs, just submitted by local councils, were not in Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis' estimate last year.
The games have left Greece with a hefty budget deficit of 6.1% of gross domestic product in 2004, breaching the European Union's cap of 3%.
EU finance ministers have given Greece a 2006 deadline to bring its deficit to below the EU limit.
In other words, hosting the Games have totally screwed up the economy.
I wonder if the good people of Greece still feel that the Games were worth it?
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