Sunrise host David Koch has unleashed on the Reserve Bank of Australia, lashing its previous public comments on interest rates as “negligent”.

In an interview with Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Koch said Aussies were previously told by RBA Governor Philip Lowe, to go out and borrow “as much as they like” under the promise they would not put up official interest rates until 2024.

“A couple of months later, they started putting up rates,” Koch exclaimed. “Was that advice to average Australians negligent?

“Were they derelict in their duty to lead average Australians up the garden path to get themselves in debt?” Jim Chalmers, however, was quick to defend the RBA and Governor Lowe. “I wouldn’t describe it that way, Kochie,” he said. “How would you describe it then?” Koch fired back.

Chalmers went on to explain that the conditions had changed faster than the governor expected. “Governor Phil Lowe has talked about that at some length about that guidance that he gave and how he considers the economic conditions to have changed faster than the bank anticipated,” he said. The comments from Lowe come after the RBA once again hiked the interest rate in June, by 0.5 per cent, prompting more woes for mortgage holders. Lowe said the board would do what it could to rein in inflation, The inflation rate is currently 5.1 per cent, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics to unveil the latest quarterly figures at the end of July. The RBA’s decision to hike the cash rate by 0.5 per cent has potentially added hundreds of dollars to monthly mortgage repayments.