Opposition treasury spokesman Malcolm Turnbull says Treasurer Wayne Swan and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd should not be complaining about the nation's economic challenges.

The federal government maintains it has inherited inflationary pressures from the former Howard government.

Opposition treasury spokesman Malcolm Turnbull says the role of the treasurer is to manage the economy, not complain about it.

"I don't know whether (Treasurer) Wayne Swan is terrified of the challenges which await him - if he is, he shouldn't be the treasurer, he will have many challenges," Mr Turnbull told ABC Radio today.

"For a treasurer to complain about economic challenges is like a fireman complaining about fires."

"That is the job of the treasurer - to manage the economy."

The board of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is meeting today to decide whether to lift interest rates in a bid to check quickening inflation.

Mr Turnbull said the government's language on inflationary pressures was creating economic problems.

"The problem with Mr Rudd and Mr Swan at the moment is that the language that they are using is so immoderate, so un-measured, it is actually creating economic problems for us," Mr Turnbull told ABC Radio.

"He (Mr Rudd) is actually creating or exacerbating an inflation problem."

The government's planned changes to industrial relations laws would add to inflationary pressures, Mr Turnbull said.

"The real pressure on inflation in this country, domestically, is going to come from a potential wages break-out and that is a direct consequence of Mr Rudd and Mr Swan's policies.

"They have to guarantee to us that their policies are not going to make inflation worse because I fear they will."

Another interest rate hike today will hurt business, but rising wages are also taking a toll, a key industry lobby group says.

Rate hike 'will hurt business'

Meanwhile, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) says the decision will cost business, even though it understands the need to curb inflation.

"ACCI and its members would be particularly concerned about any tightening of monetary policy as this will flow through directly to rising borrowing costs of business," director of industry and innovation Greg Evans told reporters in Canberra today.

"Business, both small and medium sized enterprises, where they are borrowing to sustain their business for capital expansion, etcetera, a quarter of a per cent increase does have an impact.

"However our members are also ... very concerned about the impact of inflation, especially in relation to the impact on wages, the climate of investment and our overall competitiveness."

Mr Evans said the economy was growing at a rate of four per cent and Asian demand for Australian commodities was strong.

"The underlying demand for products and services provided by business is still strong, so amongst all this talk about our economic situation, I don't think we can disregard the fact the economy is still growing strongly," he said.

Increasing commodity prices and the impact of imported energy prices had fuelled inflation, he said.

"I think we can't forget also the impact of drought and the impact that that has had on food prices," Mr Evans said.

Policies to help homeowners on the way: Swan

"I know there's a lot of pain, financial pain out there in south west Sydney, western Sydney," Mr Swan told Macquarie Radio today.

"I've been out there, I've seen the repossessions, I understand the problem, but the decision today is a decision of the independent Reserve Bank and that independence we respect.

"The most important thing we can do from a federal government's point of view is deal with this inflation legacy which hit a 16-year high in October, November, December last year."

The government intended to introduce policy to assist struggling home owners, Mr Swan said.

"There's no silver bullet ... what we can do is put in place a range of policies, particularly on the supply side, but also policies like we announced yesterday (government contributions for home saver accounts)," he said.

"We didn't cause the inflation but we absolutely accept responsibility for dealing with it."

Addressing inflation was of interest for all Australians because elevated inflation "eats away at living standards", he said.

Further details of the government's home saver accounts - designed to help Australians save for their first home - would be available soon online, Mr Swan said.

"It's a savings solution. We haven't offered this type of account in Australia before and in our current environment ... (it's) particularly important to be encouraging people to save," he said.

"(What) It will enable them to do is accumulate a bigger deposit at a faster rate because these accounts, in most cases, will probably earn ... higher interest rates than they would otherwise get in the bank, plus the government contribution."