* Construction, tourism provided economic boost

* Organizers preparing final budget report

* Athletes village remains a financial problem

VANCOUVER, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The Winter Olympics provided an economic boost worth C$2 billion or more to the Vancouver area, according to an economic study released on Friday.

The study for the provincial and federal governments was made public as the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) prepared to release its final budget report later in the day.

Pre-Games construction, tourism income and spending on Olympic operations during the February event provided an economic boost of between C$2 billion and C$2.5 billion, according to an analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Olympic and Paralympic events were held in Vancouver, on Canada’s Pacific coast, as well as at the nearby mountain ski resort of Whistler.

The researchers looked at economic data through the end of March, by which time both the Olympics and Winter Paralympics had been completed. A final report that will include post-Games data is expected to be released in mid-2011.

VANOC’s board held its final meeting on Friday, and was scheduled to release the final report on the C$1.76 billion operating budget.

Organizers have already said the final budget will be balanced, but doing that required special support from the International Olympic Committee to compensate for the worldwide economic slowdown that took hold as the Winter Games were being prepared.

The operating budget did not include about C$900 million in government spending on security for the event.

The economic reports released on Friday do not address fallout from the financial problems surrounding the C$1 billion athletes village in Vancouver, which was not directly funded by Olympic organizers.

The village’s private developer was put into receivership last month, handing the project over to the city of Vancouver, which is owed more than C$700 million for bailing out the developer in 2008.

Plans called for the housing facility to be sold off as luxury condominiums after the Games, but that has failed to pan out, giving parts of the complex near Vancouver’s downtown a ghost town feel.