Government responds to economist's claims of Govt. spending

ONE NEWS: The government is lashing out at one of New Zealand's most prominent economists who is questioning where money is being spent.

In an ANZ financial report, economist Cameron Bagrie has criticised government spending priorities.

The report says that growth in total departmental spending has increased 7%, while front-line spending in services is up just an average of 5%.

Associate Finance Minister Trevor Mallard says the analysis is unfortunately very lightweight and shows a lack of understanding of what departments' budgets actually pay for.

He says Labour has been reinvesting in the public service, and he is disputing the claim that more funding is going into administration than into the frontline services.