The Games organisers reported a projected shortfall of $32 million on their operating budget of $1.58 billion. The previous Winter Olympics, held in Salt Lake City in 2002, reported a profit of $56 million.
Valentino Castellani, president of TOROC, the organising committee said, “we are very satisfied. This is only a 2 per cent imbalance of our total budget.” The deficit, to be covered by the city, was mainly due to a "technical problem" related to payment of VAT.
IOC president Jacques Rogge downplayed the deficit, saying the Olympics had left an "enormous legacy" for Torino, the Piedmont region and Italy as a whole.
The final figure is expected to be confirmed by the end of March.
