Debt ceiling won't come back: Bowen

A Labor government will not reinstate the debt ceiling.

The coalition secured the support of the Greens in late 2013 to get rid of the ceiling, which provided a sense of discipline to government borrowings.

"I have no plans to reinstate the debt ceiling," shadow treasurer Chris Bowen told the National Press Club in Canberra on Tuesday.

Mr Bowen said a Labor government would not be taking back any of the $9 billion which the incoming Abbott government put into the Reserve Bank after the 2013 election.

Labor was critical of the move at the time because the coalition was seeking to "inflate the deficit" to make the former government look bad, he said.

"While we won't be making further allocations to the Reserve Bank, we won't be trying to get that money back - it's there for the Reserve Bank now," Mr Bowen said.