Jim Chalmers has appealed to the “impatient” Labor base to temper its expectations on spending, as he promises cost-of-living measures that would come with the bonus of lowering inflation.

In an interview with AFR Weekend before Tuesday’s budget, the Treasurer said he could understand the impatience of colleagues and like-minded lobby groups in demanding big spending on cost-of-living assistance, but the inflationary environment and the state of the budget made this impossible.