Australian government spending on operational items rose 0.7% in the December quarter from the previous quarter to an inflation-adjusted A$94.27 billion ($61.59 billion), the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Tuesday.
Investment in assets by the government and public enterprises fell 0.4% to A$24.65 billion.
The ABS said general government spending likely added 0.1 percentage points to gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the December quarter, while investment made no contribution.
Public spending accounts for around 24% of GDP, data for which are due on Wednesday. Economic growth was forecast to have risen 0.4% last quarter, according to a median of economists polled by Reuters, nudging the annual pace up to 2.0%.
(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
