Budget for 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro announced

Baku. 30 January. REPORT.AZ/ The cost of staging this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro has been revised up by about 100 million USD, Report informs citing the TASS, Brazil's Olympic Public Authority (APO) said on Friday.

In a statement, the APO predicted an overall Games budget of 9.73 bln USD

Friday's announcement comes as a blow to the government and Games organizers, who are trying to prevent cost overruns amid Brazil's worst recession in decades.

Late last year the Rio 2016 organizing committee said it would slash spending by 500 mln USD to maintain its 1.9 billion-dollar operating budget.

Last week Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada announced a reduction in spectator capacity at some venues and said 20,000 fewer volunteers would be used.

The APO, responsible for monitoring Games spending, said the upward revision took into account costs related to temporary stands and the hiring of equipment for electricity supply to venues.

Around 60% of the budget is to be bankrolled by the private sector, the APO said.

When Rio presented its bid to host the Games in 2009, officials estimated the cost of the event at 7.2 bln USD. London 2012 Olympic Games cost 16,3 bln USD

The Rio 2016 Games, to be staged from August 5 to 21, will be the first Olympics to be held in South America.