Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the Reserve Bank of Australia after former Labor treasurer Wayne Swan likened its monetary policy strategy to "punching itself in the face".

In an interview on Nine on Friday morning, Mr Swan accused the RBA of "putting economic dogma over rational decision making," after governor Michele Bullock repeated on Thursday that she did not expect to cut interest rates in the short term owing to fears of persistent inflation.

Mr Swan, who served as treasurer for six years under the Rudd and Gillard governments, said he was "very, very disappointed" with the central bank.

"It's counterproductive and it's not good economic policy," he said.

"If you look at markets, they're all forecasting rate drops. They're going down around the world."

Asked about the comments at a press conference on Friday, Mr Albanese affirmed his respect for the RBA while also distancing himself from it.

"The Reserve Bank undertakes its work and does so independently of government. We respect the work they do," he said.

"They are in charge of monetary policy, we are in charge of fiscal policy… The fight against inflation is one we are all engaged with. As the Reserve Bank governor has said, we have the same objective of lowering inflation.

"The government has a different responsibility. We have a responsibility to our constituents and to the people around Australia… to understand that people who are under cost of living pressure need support.

"That is what we have been doing but doing it in a way that is consistent with the fight against inflation."

Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said Mr Swan's comments were "disgraceful."

"Aside from attacking the independence of the RBA, Mr Swan has shown a total disregard for basic economics," he said.

"The only people putting economic dogma over rational policies is the Labor government."

Treasure Jim Chalmers, who worked for Mr Swan when the latter was treasurer, has spent the week downplaying a comment he made on Sunday that high interest rates were "smashing" households.

Speaking after the release of June quarter national accounts, which showed sclerotic growth and a drop in household spending but strong government spending, he denied the comment was an attack on the RBA.

"Of course [that] wasn't my intention," he said.

"I have a great deal of respect for the work of the Reserve Bank… I work really well and really closely with governor Bullock. And as I said before, we've got the same objective…

"The comments that I made on Sunday were just a statement of fact. They've been borne out once again in the national accounts."

Mr Chalmers also asserted the government had "different responsibilities," saying the government had been right to spend on cost of living relief, including tax cuts and energy bill relief, to cushion households from the pain of inflation.

"I don't tell governor Bullock how to do her job; governor Bullock doesn't tell me how to do my job, but we compare notes regularly. And she knows my view that there's weakness in the economy and that households are under substantial pressure."

Fielding questions after a speech on Thursday, Ms Bullock declined to comment on Mr Chalmers's comments but laughed off suggestions of a rift with the government.

"He's doing his job and I'm doing mine," she said.

In her speech, she defended the RBA's strategy, arguing the pain of higher inflation was worse than the alternative.

"I understand that people are hurting from high interest rates, I do understand that… But it is actually high inflation that is really causing trouble for people and it's causing trouble for the most vulnerable. It's affecting everyone," she said.

"So the role of interest rates in this is to try and temper demand. That's what monetary policy does and it's working. It's clearly working. But we need to see the results in the inflation numbers."