May 12 (Reuters) -
* Fitch affirms Australia at 'AAA'/stable
* Fitch on Australia- Rating reflects country's high income levels, strong governance and effective policymaking institutions
* Fitch - Australia's senior unsecured local-currency bond ratings are also affirmed at 'AAA' and 'F1+'
* Fitch on Australia- Expect gross general government debt to peak at a slightly higher level than our september 2016 projections
* Fitch - Forecast Australia's real GDP to expand by 2.8% in 2017 and 2.7% in 2018, faster than 'AAA' median of 1.7% and 2.0%, respectively
* Fitch- Our estimate of FY18 general government deficit remains unchanged at 2.2%, reflecting expectation of higher infrastructure spending by state govts
* Fitch- Australia's banking system scores 'AA' on Fitch's banking system indicator Source text for Eikon: ID:nFIT999157