The Western Australia government announced on Thursday that it is predicting a better-than expected surplus amounting to A$286 million for the fiscal year 2010-11 which starts on July 1.

In a statement West Australia Premier and Acting Treasurer Colin Barnett said the projected surplus would be larger that the revised forecast of A$51 million given in December when the state released its mid-year financial review.

However, the revised figure was slightly below the expected surplus during the current year. The government expects to reach A$290 million for the year ending June 30. Barnett also expressed optimism that the state will experience surpluses over the next three years.

West Australia is the largest state in Australia by geographic region and is resource-rich.

The premier added that the surplus would "reduce our reliance on debt and mean we can maintain the state's triple-A credit rating."

He predicted that the Western Australian economy would expand by 4.5 percent in the next fiscal year, buoyed by stronger household consumption, exports and the revitalization of the job-creating business investment.

The fiscal 2011 budget also outlined A$22.3 billion of recurrent expenditure services, up A$843 million from fiscal 2010. The Asset Investment Program, an allocation for infrastructure spending, was estimated to grow to A$7.6 billion for fiscal 2011.

"This infrastructure program is 6.5% higher than the expected outturn for 2009-10 and a massive 31% increase over 2008-09," said Barnett.

Standard & Poor's said the budget was consistent with the state government's AAA rating and stable outlook.