ATHENS, April 8 (AFP) - Greek government ministerspledged Thursday to finance all budget overruns toensure the Athens Games were on a par with Olympicstandards.
No reduction will be made neither on quality nor onquantity,'' Greek Deputy Culture Minister FannyPalli-Petralia, the minister in charge of the Games,told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Olympicpreparations. Greece will respect the required norms to make thebest Games,’’ said chief Olympics organiser GiannaAngelopoulos-Daskalaki.
The country will fulfill the very importantobligation of staging the Games in the best possibleway,'' said Greek Economy and Finance Minister YiorgosAlogoskoufis after the meeting. Palli-Petralia announced two weeks ago that Olympicbudget overruns had already reached 80 million euros(100 million dollars). She said the new conservativegovernment which won general elections on March 7 wouldpublish full accounts later so the Greek people canknow the truth’’.
According to initial estimates, the Games would cost4.6 billion euros.
Four months from the opening ceremony, Greece isracing to complete a bunch of Olympic projects,including the roof for the main stadium, the marathoncourse, and new railway and tram city lines.