Olympics budget rises over security concerns

The budget for the 2008 Beijing Olympics has been increased from US$1.6 billion to US$2 billion to finance an enhanced security system, said the executive vice president of the games' organizing committee, Liu Jingmin, on the sidelines of the 17th Communist Party Congress. Liu, who is Beijing's vice mayor, also cited the appreciation of the yuan as a reason to revise the old budget, Xinhua reported (in Chinese). The figure, which does not include certain large infrastructure projects in the city, is still less than the US$2.4 billion spent on the 2004 Olympics in Athens.