EIB offers loan for 2012 Olympics

London - The European Investment Bank has offered Britain a £225m loan to help pay for the athletes village at the London 2012 Summer Olympics after private funding dried up, it was reported on Friday.

The Guardian said London had yet to decide whether to accept the loan, worth €250m or $330m, which became necessary after the economic crisis made private sector investors reluctant to get involved.

The Olympic Development Agency - the government body responsible for delivering the Games - told the newspaper it had always said the EIB "could be a funding source", and said talks were expected to conclude in mid-2009.

- AFP