The IOC Coordination Commission for the 2008 Olympic Games said on Thursday that the Beijing Olympic Orgnaising Committee(BOCOG) has produced a solid financial plan and its budget increase will not lead to over-expenditure.

Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the coordination commission, told reporters that the budget which BOCOG presented to the IOC this week has increased from the original forecast of 1.625 billion US dollars but it is still lower than the expenditure of last year's Athen Olympics.

"BOCOG's budget projections show expenditures unlikely to exceed those in the financial statement recently published by ATHOC(Athen organising committee) for the Athens Olympic Games, "said Verbruggen after the Coordination Commission has concluded its fourth visit to the host city.

According to ATHOC's final financial statement, the Athens Games, which had been billed as the most expensive Games, cost as much as 1.967 million euros(about 2.4 billion dollars) in terms of the operational budget, which refers to the cost for running the games and does not cover the expenditure on infrastructure.

BOCOG did not disclose the new budget but stressed that the figure will be definitely lower than what the ATHOC spent.

Verbruggen, however, was not fazed by the budget increase, in particular given that the Beijing Games is set to achieve great success in marketing.

"BOCOG's budget will be met by the IOC's contribution from the sales of broadcast rights and international sponsorship and also by BOCOG's efforts in finding commercial partners and selling tickets, "said Verbruggen.

"We are very confident that there will be financially a positive outcome, as you know, the local marketing program is successful, we can even say, very successful, "he added.

Since BOCOG launched its marketing plan in September 2003, eight enterprises have been selected as the official partners of the Beijing Games, with about three years away from the opening of the Games.

"The marketing operation is going very well, and we expect that there will be adequate fund to guarantee the successful running of the Games, "said Yuan Bin, BOCOG's marketing chief, at a sponsors' workshop earlier on Thursday.

Source: Xinhua