Will the 2012 Olympic budget stay on track?

In just over two years' time, London will host the 2012 Olympics. As a result, stadiums and facilities across the country are currently under construction - but critics say the cost of such infrastructure projects see rising.

EU Infrastructure takes a look at the history of London's Olympics budget.

March 2007. Tessa Jowell, Permanent Secretary to the Minister for the Olympics, Paralympics and London, announces to the House of Commons a budget of GBP£5.3 billion to cover building the venues and infrastructure for the Games.

August 2007. Reports begin to surface that public jubilation over winning the right to stage the Games is beginning to wane as realisation of the enormous costs involved dawns on the public.

December 2007. Jowell announces that a 'thorough assessment of all potential risks' has now backed the total GBP£9.325bn budget, which includes the costs of mounting the Games as well as those costs required for building the venues and the infrastructure.

July 2008. The Olympics Delivery Authority, the consultant hired to control spending on the London 2012 Olympics, reveals that budgets for several major venues has risen by as much as three times their original amounts. The cost of the aquatics centre, for example, intended to be the landmark venue, has rocketed to GBP£303m, up from the GBP£75m originally estimated by Jowell.

July 2009. 2012 organisers release GBP£19m from contingency funds to make Olympic venues more secure from terrorist attacks. But the allocation of the money has not affected the Games' overall budget and anticipated final building costs, which has now risen stands at GBP£7.234bn.

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