Australia government spending rises 1.2 pct in Q4

SYDNEY, March 4 (Reuters) - Australian government consumption and investment spending rose 1.2 percent in the fourth quarter to an inflation-adjusted A$86.99 billion ($77.8 billion), the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Tuesday.

Government spending for consumption rose 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter to A$68.25 billion in real terms.

Investment spending by the government and public enterprises increased by 4.3 percent to A$18.74 billion. This series showed some wild swings last year due to accounting for the transfer of assets between the public and private sectors.

The data will feed into the gross domestic product (GDP) report for the fourth quarter due on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Eric Meijer)

((Wayne.Cole@thomsonreuters.com)(612 9373 1813)(Reuters Messaging: wayne.cole.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: AUSTRALIA ECONOMY/GOVERNMENT