Beijing - The over-budget Beijing Olympic Games will still not register a deficit, Wei Jizhong, the Chinese Olympic Committee's former general-secretary, was quoted by state media as saying Friday.

The total cost of the Games was recently estimated to be 2.2 billion US dollars, far exceeding the original 1.6 billion dollars estimate made by China when it bid for the Olympics back in 2001, Wei was quoted by the Xinhua news agency saying.

But revenue was also likely to have surpassed projections, he said, without disclosing figures.

The 72-year-old, president of the non-profit Beijing Olympic Economy Research Association, was previously head of the budget team for the 2008 Olympic Games Bidding Committee.

He said he and other officials had underestimated some costs, including security, because they made the budget before the September 11, 2001 terror attack in the United States.

The change in currency exchange rates and rise in prices were also factors the bidding team had not anticipated, he said, while costs of high-tech equipment, including LCD screen TVs, were also unexpectedly high.

However, income generated from the Games was also likely to increase much more than originally forecast, Wei was quoted as saying.

About 49 per cent of the budget came from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), while the remainder came from China, he said.

China's spending to hold a successful Olympics, however, is much more than just the budget for the Games.

It had set aside about 40 billion US dollars to remake the city for the Olympics - including adding new subway lines, building new roads, and giving the city a more modern look. (dpa)