Economists have questioned the reluctance of Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock to answer questions about the impact of government spending on inflation after the central bank’s decision to raise the official interest rate for the first time in more than two years.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers was also criticised for “cherry-picking” comments from one of the economists he nominated in a media interview as supporting his argument that federal and state government spending was not one of the factors that contributed to the inflation spike over the past six months that has created a political headache for Labor.
This article has been corrected to better reflect Chalmers’ characterisation of the comments of economists at Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and AMP. A previous version said he cited them to suggest government spending was not contributing to inflation.