ST GEORGE'S (Grenada), Dec 16: The new US$40 million (euro31 million) Queen's Park stadium being built for the cricket World Cup in March is a gift from China, Grenada Finance Minister Anthony Boatswain said on Friday.

“The cost of the stadium is a gift to the people of Grenada from the government and people of the People's Republic of China,” Boatswain revealed when he presented the 2007 budget.

China provided the finance and 500 workers to help rebuild 16,000-seat Queen's Park, which was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

Boatswain said Grenada stands to collect substantial revenue from the first World Cup in the Caribbean. Queen's Park will host Super Eight second-round matches in April.

With all gate receipts going to host governments, Boatswain calculated that with tickets at an average price of US$73 (euro56), Grenada could gross US$7 million (euro5.4 million) from Queen's Park's gate. Minus US$4.8 million (euro3.7 million) in expenditure to date, he said there was a chance to profit by US$2.2 million (euro1.7 million).

He said the expenditure included US$2.4 million (euro1.9 million) for preparation and secretarial support, US$1 million (euro770,000) for preparatory works, US$1.2 million (euro945,000) for rural sports facilities,US$112,000 (euro86,000) for cultural activities, and US$37,000 (euro29,000) on a craft initiative.—AP