Labor Leader Bill Shorten has accused the prime minister of putting Australia's triple-A credit rating at risk by delivering instability after a deadlocked federal election.
Financial markets recovered an initial post-election wobble on Monday, but three global credit rating agencies have put whoever forms government on notice.
Mr Shorten fronted the media in western Sydney on Monday saying Malcolm Turnbull had delivered an "inferior and unstable" outcome.
His Senate reforms had put more minority parties into the upper house, including Pauline Hanson's One Nation.
"Clearly Mr Turnbull has jeopardised the rating by delivering instability," Mr Shorten told reporters.
Mr Turnbull was less forthcoming, only telling reporters outside his east Sydney home: "The counting continues."
Moody's Investors Service was quick to allay fears it is about to cut Australia's treasured triple-A rating, saying short-lived political uncertainty has limited credit implications.
But it warned the election outcome would affect the credit profile if it "changed broad policy priorities and the effectiveness of their implementation".
Fitch Ratings said if political gridlock leads to a sustained widening of the budget deficit it would put downward pressure on the rating, especially if the economic environment deteriorates.
Standard & Poor's said it could cut the rating if Australia's budgetary performance does not improve broadly as expected a year ago, "irrespective of the political composition of any new government".
TD Securities chief strategist Annette Beacher says historically a hung parliament has not been conducive to good governance and policy reform.
"There is a significant probability that Australia experiences another three years of fiscal policy paralysis," she said.
That leaves the Reserve Bank to do the heavy lifting in managing the economy, but economists doubt the central bank will intervene immediately with a cut in the cash rate when its board meets on Tuesday.
A reduction in the cash rate to 1.5 per cent from 1.75 per cent is seen as more likely when the board meets again in August should official quarterly inflation figures point to continued extremely benign price pressures - a sign of a soggy economy.
However, the Melbourne Institute's monthly inflation gauge spiked 0.6 per cent in June reflecting a rise in petrol prices, suggesting the June quarter consumer price index is unlikely to repeat the negative result of the previous quarter.
Among other figures released on Monday, job advertisements - a key pointer to future employment growth - rose 0.5 per cent in June and consistent with robust business conditions.
But ANZ head of Australian economics Felicity Emmett says mounting uncertainties - through the election and Brexit - may pose some downside risks to the employment outlook later in the year.
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