For the first time, Greek officials admitted Friday the 2004 Athens Olympics could cost more than the initially earmarked 4.6 billion euros (5.3 billion dollars).
The budget could be exceeded by up to 10 percent, Greek Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos, in charge of preparations for the Games on the part of Greece's socialist government said late Thursday.
"We want, and I hope this will be the case, to keep the 4.6-billion-euro ceiling," he said after a high-level cabinet meeting with Olympics organisers, chaired by Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis.
"But if an imperative need arises, for example to set up extra security infrastructure, we'll include it in the budget.
"It is a matter of very narrow gaps, which will not exceed 5 to 10 percent (of the total budget)," Venizelos said.
On Thursday, the Greek daily Kathimerini reported that the 2004 Athens Olympics had gone 1.5 billion euros over the official 4.6-billion budget, adding the government was looking into transfering the deficit to the state budgets for 2005 and 2006.
On Tuesday, the country's Economy and Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis revised upwards Greece's budget deficit forecast for 2003 from 0.9 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to "slightly above one percent".
Unlike France or Germany, Greece is a long way from breaching the eurozone's Stability and Growth Pact, which stipulates that countries using the euro should hold their public deficits to under three percent of output.
But Greece is under an obligation to decrease its staggering public debt, which, at over 100 percent of GDP, is the eurozone's second-largest.
"Greeks will be paying for these Games for 25 years," opposition New Democracy leader Phani Palli-Petralia said.
Greece is eight months from a general election. The ruling Socialists this month unveiled a government spending package totalling 1.7 billion euros - 1.1 percent of the country's GDP for 2004.
The budget could be exceeded by up to 10 percent, Greek Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos, in charge of preparations for the Games on the part of Greece's socialist government said late Thursday.
"We want, and I hope this will be the case, to keep the 4.6-billion-euro ceiling," he said after a high-level cabinet meeting with Olympics organisers, chaired by Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis.
"But if an imperative need arises, for example to set up extra security infrastructure, we'll include it in the budget.
"It is a matter of very narrow gaps, which will not exceed 5 to 10 percent (of the total budget)," Venizelos said.
On Thursday, the Greek daily Kathimerini reported that the 2004 Athens Olympics had gone 1.5 billion euros over the official 4.6-billion budget, adding the government was looking into transfering the deficit to the state budgets for 2005 and 2006.
On Tuesday, the country's Economy and Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis revised upwards Greece's budget deficit forecast for 2003 from 0.9 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to "slightly above one percent".
Unlike France or Germany, Greece is a long way from breaching the eurozone's Stability and Growth Pact, which stipulates that countries using the euro should hold their public deficits to under three percent of output.
But Greece is under an obligation to decrease its staggering public debt, which, at over 100 percent of GDP, is the eurozone's second-largest.
"Greeks will be paying for these Games for 25 years," opposition New Democracy leader Phani Palli-Petralia said.
Greece is eight months from a general election. The ruling Socialists this month unveiled a government spending package totalling 1.7 billion euros - 1.1 percent of the country's GDP for 2004.
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