[excuse-me]

It wasn't - the actual construction was under budget.

The problem is that "the budget" figures that get quoted are mostly pulled out of the air.

When a politician at the bid stage wants to make it sound affordable they use a number that is just the spent cost of running the event. When they want to make it look like there has been a great investment - they use the figure which includes all the new transport links and all the development grants to the region.

There are also budget numbers that aren't spent. So the cost went up by a $Bn when the government decided that it had to charge 20% VAT (federal sales tax) on everything - but of course that goes straight back to the government. Then there is the $Bn security costs - but it's not like they weren't going to pay for having an army for that two weeks anyway