Tokyo Olympic minister promises transparency on spending

The minister in charge of the Tokyo Olympics says national government spending on the event is billions less than a recent national government audit showed.

Olympic Minister Yoshitaka Sakurada says "we need to ensure transparency and gain understanding from the people." Tracking Olympic costs is difficult with many murky areas and disputes about what are and what are not Olympic expenditures.

Earlier this month, a 178-page report by the national government's Board of Audit said the central government's share of spending was 801 billion yen ($7.1 billion).

That report showed Japan's total spending national government, local governments, and private money would reach $25 billion to prepare the games with the figure likely go higher.