Greece facing ($36bn euro) decade of debt over Olympics

[rawstory]

As seen on The Raw Story, http://www.rawstory.com

Greece facing decade of debt as Olympics bill soars

Helena Smith in Athens
Wednesday June 16, 2004
The Guardian

It could take Greece over a decade to pay back a €36bn (£24bn) deficit created in part by the ballooning costs of hosting the Olympic games in August, a top government official said yesterday. Mounting disillusionment over the economic repercussions of hosting the the games deepened after the Greek government said borrowing requirements had overshot budget targets by at least €6bn this year.

Although officials avoided saying how much of the over runs were Olympics-related, the August 13-29 games were originally forecast to cost around €4bn but the outlay is likely to be closer to €6bn, if not more.

"For the games to be a profitable venture for us, it will take between nine and 11 years to pay back," the deputy finance minister, Petros Doukas, told the Guardian.

Athens would not be the first city to find hosting the games a loss-making enterprise. The 1976 Montreal games virtually bankrupted the city. But more recently Sydney, Atlanta, Barcelona and Seoul all netted big profits through the games.

Full story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1239752,00.html

[Spinzonner]

1. This is getting ridiculous

Time to establish a permanent Olympics site somewhere and have all countries chip-in the maintain and enhance it, according to their resources.

How about the Azores ?

[rooboy]

2. But Reagan proved that deficits don't matter !! n/t