Australia government spending dips 0.6 percent in second quarter

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian government consumption and investment spending fell 0.6 percent in the second quarter to an inflation-adjusted A$85.83 billion (47.82 billion pounds), the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Tuesday.

Government spending for consumption rose 0.3 percent in the second quarter to A$68.59 billion in real terms.

Investment spending by the government and public enterprises fell by 3.9 percent to A$17.24 billion. However this series has been routinely distorted 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 second quarter due on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)