The total cost to the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) was now estimated to stand at A$2.6 billion, a spokesman for SOCOG said.
"The increase is mainly due to additional disciplines within sports," the spokesman told Reuters. "But that will be covered by increases in revenue of the same order," he said.
Taxpayers would not be asked to fund the budget increase, the spokesman said. The increased revenues would come from marketing concessions and the sale of television rights beyond those deals already agreed.
Local media speculated on Monday that extra seats would be sold to meet the cost increase, although the SOCOG spokesman said total seats available for the two weeks of the Games would stay at about 8.5 million.
Additional events added to the Sydney 2000 programme include women's water polo, whitewater canoeing and trampolining.
The SOCOG board met on Saturday to discuss the budget increase, which will now be put to the New South Wales state government for approval.
The government said in its 1998/99 budget statement in June that the net cost to New South Wales of staging the Games was estimated at A$1.640 billion.
Construction costs - separate to those of the self-funding SOCOG - were put at A$2.185 billion.
The private sector is spending A$1.1 billion on the main Olympic stadium and village, and state government agencies are spending another A$407 million to meet the extra demands on transport and security associated with staging the Games. (A$1=US$0.60).
Reuters
Sydney 2000 Olympics organisers have said the cost of staging the Games had blown up by A$150 million (US$90 million), largely because of an increase in the number of events.
