Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ private pressure on Reserve Bank of Australia governors Michele Bullock and Philip Lowe over their public statements on interest rate decisions has undermined the independence of the central bank, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor and a former board member have warned.

Roger Corbett, an RBA board member between 2005 and 2015, said the RBA was right to point to inflationary pressures from excessive federal and state government spending – a point that Chalmers took Bullock to task over last year.