MARCH QUARTER 2008 KEY FIGURES: ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT

December quarter 2007 to March quarter 2008 movements (in original terms) -

• Taxation revenue decreased by 3.2% to $87,148m.
• The GFS net operating balance for the general government sector decreased to $9,407m.
• The GFS net lending(+)/borrowing(-) position for the general government sector decreased to a net lending position of $6,849m.

			Dec Qtr 2007	Mar Qtr 2008	Dec Qtr 2007 to Mar Qtr 2008
			$m	$m	% change
Current Prices
Taxation revenue
	General government		90,017	87,148	-3.2
Total revenue
	General government		106,134	103,036	-2.9
	Public Non-Financial corporations		13,627	14,731	8.1
Total expenses
	General government		95,553	93,630	-2.0
	Public Non-Financial corporations		12,638	13,049	3.3
GFS Net operating balance
	General government		10,581	9,407	..
	Public Non-Financial corporations		989	1,682	..
GFS Net lending(+)/borrowing(-)
	General government		6,961	6,849	..
	Public Non-Financial corporations		-2,101	-1,228	..

QUARTERLY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS PUBLIC SECTOR MEASURES - KEY FIGURES

The table below includes the key public sector aggregates for the March quarter 2008 from the national accounts publication. The key figures shown include Government Final Consumption Expenditure and Gross Fixed Capital Formation for general government and public corporations, seasonally adjusted for current prices and in chain volume terms.

• In seasonally adjusted chain volume terms, total general government final consumption expenditure increased by 0.4% in the March quarter 2008.
• General government gross fixed capital formation, in seasonally adjusted chain volume terms, increased by 8.4% in the March quarter 2008.

			Dec Qtr 2007	Mar Qtr 2008	Dec Qtr 2007 to Mar Qtr 2008
			$m	$m	% change
Current Prices
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National - defence		4,616	4,595	-0.5
	National - non-defence		15,466	15,547	0.5
	Total national		20,082	20,141	0.3
	State and local		30,057	30,239	0.6
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		50,139	50,380	0.5
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National - defence	508	1,215	138.9
		National - non-defence	981	851	-13.2
		Total national	1,489	2,066	38.7
		State and local	5,651	5,601	-0.9
		Total general government	7,140	7,666	7.4
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	282	299	6.3
		State and local	4,596	4,726	2.8
		Total public corporations	4,878	5,025	3.0
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		12,018	12,692	5.6
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		-328	-262	..
Chain Volume (b)
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National - defence		4,337	4,295	-1.0
	National - non-defence		14,140	14,166	0.2
	Total national		18,477	18,461	-0.1
	State and local		27,426	27,606	0.7
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		45,904	46,067	0.4
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National - defence	576	1,353	135.0
		National - non-defence	994	886	-10.8
		Total national	1,570	2,240	42.7
		State and local	5,376	5,288	-1.6
		Total general government	6,946	7,527	8.4
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	256	272	6.0
		State and local	4,288	4,370	1.9
		Total public corporations	4,544	4,642	2.2
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		11,490	12,169	5.9
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		-325	-263	. .

(a) See paragraph 32 of the Explanatory Notes for the relationship between general government final consumption expenditure and GFS aggregates.
(b) Reference year for chain volume measures is 2005-06.


MARCH QUARTER 2008 GFS RELEASE

This release presents quarterly government finance statistics (GFS) on an accrual accounting basis. All tables are presented in GFS operating statement format and are for the general government sector, with the exception of Table 2 which presents data for the public non-financial corporations sector.

Quarterly GFS are released for the current financial year only, other than in the September quarter, when the quarters of the previous financial year are presented. Users requiring data for earlier periods should consult Government Finance Statistics, Australia (cat.no. 5512.0). The latest issue (2006-07) was released on 15 April 2008. Final annual GFS results for 2007-08 are scheduled for release by the ABS in April 2009.

Table	Sept 07	Dec 07	Mar 08
Table 1 All Levels of Government - General Government	*	*	*
Table 2 All Levels of Government - Public Non-Financial Corporations	*	*	*
Table 3 Commonwealth Government	*	*	*
Table 4 Total State & Local	*	*	*
Table 5 New South Wales	*	*
Table 6 Victoria	*	*
Table 7 Queensland	*	*
Table 8 South Australia	*	*
Table 9 Western Australia	*	*
Table 10 Tasmania	*	*
Table 11 Northern Territory	*	*
Table 12 Australian Capital Territory	*	*

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

The release of GFS quarterly data is usually coordinated to be the day before the respective issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5206.0). The scheduled release dates for the June, September and December quarters 2008 issues are:

Issue	5519.0.55.001	5206.0
June 2008 September 2008 December 2008	2 September 2008 2 December 2008 3 March 2008	3 September 2008 December 2008 March 2009

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070, email <client.services@abs.gov.au> or Glynis Orrell on Canberra (02) 6252 5735, email <public.finance@abs.gov.au>.