The Guangzhou government is locked in a debate over spending for the extravagant Asian Games after its treasurer rebutted an earlier claim that the city was in debt to the tune of 210 billion yuan (HK$248.5 billion).
In the latest attempt at a fightback, Guangzhou Financial Bureau director Zhang Jieming called in local reporters and handed out a briefing with the headline 'Guangzhou is not 210 billion yuan in debt for organising the Asian Games' just to get his point across, The Southern Metropolis News reported yesterday. The briefing contained a detailed breakdown of expenditure for the major Asian Games projects and related infrastructure.
Zhang told the paper that the Asian Games' operating budget stood at only 13.6 billion yuan. From 2005 to 2010, the city pumped in another 109 billion yuan to boost its infrastructure, he said.
'As of now, we have paid 9.1 billion yuan out of the total operating budget for the Asian Games. The actual spending is basically within budget,' Zhang said.
Details of the Games' accounts would not be made public until 2013 or even later 'because there was a lot of follow-up work to do', Zhang said.
The newspaper also reported yesterday that Asian Games venues had cost 6.3 billion yuan, and 73.2 billion was spent on transport infrastructure, including building 177 kilometres of new subway lines, roads and express bus lanes. Another 19 billion yuan was spent on improving the city's environment and decorating areas around the venues, and 16.8 billion yuan was spent on fixing the city's water treatment system.
Zhang said Guangzhou's total debt was 88.4 billion yuan, including 40 billion yuan incurred before the city had applied to host the Asian Games.