OSAKA -- The Osaka Municipal Government will allocate 980 million yen of its fiscal 1997 budget for its campaign to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, it was announced here Feb. 21.
The cost of planned Olympics-related projects, an increase of more than 300 million yen over the amount spent last year for the same purpose, includes 130 million yen for publicity in the Tokyo metropolitan area and 314 million yen for hosting international sporting events. However, the city's fiscal budget for 1997 is less than that of the previous year, the first decrease of its kind in the past 46 years. The 4.3 trillion yen budget, 3.4 percent smaller than last year's, consists of a 1.9 trillion yen general accounts budget and a 2.5 trillion yen special budget.
While the city's tax income increased by 5.7 percent, the city government will issue bonds for 27 million yen, a 14.5 percent decrease compared with last year. The city will spend 380 billion yen, more than 20 percent of its annual expenditure, for public welfare including measures for the elderly, and increase expenditures for disaster prevention measures, including the cost of a new heliport. On the other hand, it will cut official entertainment expenses by 32 percent compared with last year and investment and emergency outlays by 8.3 percent.