As rate hikes put pressure on Australians, Treasurer Jim Chalmers insists his government has a good relationship with the Reserve Bank.

National accounts data, to be released on Wednesday, is expected to show a soft and subdued economy with sluggish growth in gross domestic product.

On Sunday, ahead of the results, Chalmers said the RBA’s string of cash rate hikes since May 2022 had “smashed the economy”, prompting critics to claim he was shifting blame.

But Chalmers has insisted he works closely with the central bank and was pointing at economic pressures affecting Australians.

“It would be a bit strange, frankly, if the treasurer of Australia couldn’t point to the sorts of things which are slowing our economy,” he told ABC news on Tuesday.

“We work well and closely with the governor of the Reserve Bank.

“We’ve got different responsibilities, but we’ve got the same objective, and our objective is to get on top of this inflation challenge without smashing an economy which is already weak.”

In early August, at its last meeting, the central bank again kept the official cash rate on hold at 4.35 per cent. Governor Michele Bullock warned cuts were unlikely this year.

“A near-term reduction in the cash rate doesn’t align with the board’s current thinking,” she said at her post-meeting media briefing.

Chalmers said global economic uncertainty, persistent prise pressures and higher interest rates were all combining to slow the economy in substantial ways.

Australia’s annual inflation rate rose to 3.5 per cent in the 12 months to July, according to statistics bureau data released last week. That was slightly hotter than expected but down from 3.8 per cent in June.

While there has been some progress, Chalmers acknowledged there was still a way to go.

“When people are doing it tough as they are now, the job of the government … is to try and do what we can to make things easier,” he told Sunrise.

“We need to do that in a way that doesn’t put additional pressure on people or smash an economy which we expect is already quite weak.”

Asked whether Australia would follow in the footsteps of other nations and cut rates, Chalmers said he didn’t pre-empt decisions of the independent central bank.

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie has claimed Australia’s interest rates have remained high because the Albanese government “won’t get its own budget under control”.

“While Australians are struggling with mortgage payments higher than they’ve seen in their lifetime, and rents that are going through the roof, they’re shifting the blame every single day of the week,” she told the Today show.

-with AAP