Shanghai Daily quoted Liu Zhi as saying at a news conference that the figure, which comprises the Games' operational fund, venue construction costs and infrastructure investment, could be adjusted when the 16-day event finishes on August 24.
The official said Beijing had spent a total of 280 billion yuan (some $40.9 billion) between 2001 and 2007 on infrastructure, energy and transportation projects, water supply and environment constructions and that because of the Olympics all these projects had been completed two years ahead of the schedule.
Liu said allocations for Olympic venue construction would be no more than 13 billion yuan and would include funds spent on building new stadiums and reconstructing old ones.
The operational fund budget, which was initially set at 1.63 billion yuan, changed three times to the current more than 2 billion yuan because of currency fluctuations and the inclusion of additional tasks, Liu added.
About 160,000 people are expected to attend Friday's opening ceremony, said Zhou Zhengyu, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Committee of Communications.
Of those, 70,000 will be guests, VIPs, athletes and performers at the ceremony, Zhou said. They will take chartered buses to and from the National Stadium.
Beijing has more than 900 contingency plans to ensure the security of the nearly 100 foreign leaders who will attend the opening ceremony.
The remaining 90,000 will be spectators, staff and volunteers, who will travel on public buses and the metro, Zhou said.
The Beijing Subway Company said Thursday it had tightened security ahead of the Olympics, and urged passengers to avoid carrying luggage while traveling underground.
