London, Dec 6(ANI): It will cost 6,750,000 pounds per hour to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, the United Kingdom's spending watchdog has warned.
The National Audit Office warned that the budget could likely exceed 9.3 billion pounds for the Games.
The UK Government, however, said it would be able to stick to the 9.3 billion pound budget, as extra costs will be met through savings made elsewhere on Olympic 2012 spending.
Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson said extra spending was the need of the hour, as the Games would bring London into the limelight.
"These ceremonies will be aired around the globe and watched by four billion people. It is a seminal moment for Britain and we wanted to give it the wow factor and leave a lasting economic legacy," The Daily Mail quoted him, as saying.
The total cost of starting and finishing the sports extravaganza would be 81 million pounds since the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has agreed to contribute 41 million pounds for the opening and closing ceremonies, which was earlier to be paid by the Games' privately-funded organising committee Locog.
The amount of money required to ensure the safety of spectators, athletes and officials has shot up after the UK Government decided to deploy 23,700 security staff, as compared to earlier estimate of 10,000 personnel.
The British Government has predicted that it would need to utilize 318 million pounds of the 354 million pounds of the contingency fund.
Commons Public Accounts Committee Chairperson Margaret Hodge said the contingency fund was too meagre an amount to be spent on such a large project. (ANI)
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