The federal Treasury will be forced to cut 250 jobs over the next two years if the Albanese government is returned, despite Labor attacking Peter Dutton for his proposed cuts to the public service.

The government’s top economic department is facing a 15 per cent head count reduction from its average staffing level of 1600 in 2024-25, according to bureaucrats and the “Staffing of Agencies” chapter contained in the federal budget published on March 25.