Olympics: Athens bill rises

Greece is set to spend at least €1 billion ($1.91 billion) more on Olympic preparations this year than originally planned, deepening the country's budget woes.

It is not clear how much this year's overrun will boost the total Olympic budget, spread over several years.

Last week, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said the original €4.6 billion bill had gone considerably higher, but did not say what the final cost would be.

After in-fighting and bureaucracy wasted at least three years of preparations, Olympics organisers are rushing to complete the venues, pushing up costs as contractors order double and triple shifts.

Greece has even cut back on its traditionally high defence spending to make funds available for the Games.