PARIS: Paris is on time and on budget for the 2024 Olympics, the city’s mayor said on Tuesday, dismissing concern expressed recently by a senior Olympics official.

“Look at all the previous Olympics and Para­lympics around the world, one year before the Games, generally it’s stressful and people are saying ‘we’ll never manage this’. Well, we’re ready,” mayor Anne Hidalgo told the France Inter radio station on Tuesday. “We’re on budget and we’re on time.”

During a visit to Paris on Monday, IOC official Pierre-Olivier Beckers, who is responsable for monitoring the Paris Games, voiced concern about the work needed to balance the budget.

French authorities chip­ped in another 111 million euros last December to take into account inflation, taking the overall budget to 4.48 billion euros.

Delays in signing major sponsorship deals, including with French luxury goods giant LVMH, has also left a major question mark about the finances of the event.

“There is still plenty of work to do,” Beckers told reporters.

A provisional report from the French national auditor, revealed by Le Monde newspaper on Mon­day, said that “substantial uncertainties remain, notably for domestic partnerships.”

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2023