The country is estimated to have spent US$ 7-8 million on the bid to host the games in Hambantota.
"The estimated cost to host CWG 2018 is around US$ 8 billion although it was earlier estimated to be US$ 4 billion and the economy could not have absorbed this huge cost. A feature of the construction sector is that costs tend to escalate. When India hosted the games, the actual cost grew 15 times over the estimate. The Southern Expressway which would open later this month was initially estimated at US$ 350 million and now it is close to US$ 800 million," Dr. De deleted said.
"People told us not to criticise the bid and that we needed to be nationalistic. We certainly would like to promote the country in a global scale, but the authorities need to prioritise," he said.
The official estimate to host the games was US$ 4 billion. Total revenue of the government in 2010 was Rs. 834.2 billion (approx. US$ 7.58 billion).
The government was planning to tap the private sector, both domestic and foreign, to raise the required funds and Dr. Harsha said failure to do so would have meant that the government would have to spend, thereby further increasing the debt burden.
Earlier this year Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said US$ 1 million was spent to prepare the bid document. Rs. 2.6 million (US$ 23.6 thousand) was spent for the services of PMP Legacy, an international public relations company, and Cabraal had said the total bill to this firm could reach Rs. 5 to 6 million (US$ 54.5 thousand) by the time the entire process ended. Yesterday’s Sunday Island reported that US$ 7-8 million was spent on the bid.
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