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Rural and regional NSW residents face an anxious wait for floodwaters to arrive as rain continues to swell rivers amid ongoing inundation across south eastern Australia.

Focus is turning to the south of the state in the Riverina region and near the Victorian border, where residents are staring down the possibility of a flood higher than the 1993 event, the area's second worst on record.

Mathoura residents east of the Cobb Highway have been told to evacuate by 10am on Tuesday before routes out are expected to be cut off.

Residents at a Moama caravan park and in the nearby Indigenous community Cummeragunja were told to evacuate on Monday.

Flood forecasts are being updated as peaks are observed upstream.

Moama has been warned to expect major flooding from Thursday, along with Echuca across the border in Victoria.

Heights could exceed the 1993 flood by Friday, the Bureau of Meteorology warns.

Major flooding continues from the Macquarie River at Warren in central west NSW, with waters expected to remain high until at least mid-week.

The Murrumbidgee River could reach major flooding at Narrandera on Tuesday, where residents were told to evacuate over the weekend.

The water will then flow downstream to Hay, which could experience major flooding by the end of the week.

Residents in Forbes forced to evacuate after the Lachlan River burst its banks last week have been told they can return with caution.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet visited the region on Monday.

Mr Albanese warned flood threats are likely to continue for some time.

"We are living in very dangerous times in the days and weeks ahead," he said.

Mr Perrottet called for vigilance in flood-threatened communities through summer and urged people to follow the advice of emergency services agencies.

Thunderstorms expected to develop from Tuesday could add further heavy rainfall to already saturated catchments, with river heights likely to respond quickly.

The Northern Rivers region of NSW was warned of a severe thunderstorm on Monday afternoon - cancelled and then reissued after the storm redeveloped in the evening.

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The direction of interest rates will be guided by employment and inflation figures following the shock slowdown in policy tightening this month.

The logic behind the Reserve Bank of Australia's surprise decision to ease back to 25 basis point hikes, instead of the 50 basis point lift priced in by markets, will be revealed in the minutes of the board's October decision.

The central bank took its foot off the accelerator in October after four consecutive 0.5 percentage point hikes that have driven up the cost of mortgage repayments for homeowners.

JP Morgan economists expect the minutes to reflect the bank's data-driven approach to monetary decision-making when they are released on Tuesday.

October employment figures and September-quarter inflation are the notable data releases ahead of the November decision, with jobless figures due on Thursday and the quarterly consumer price index to be released next week.

Westpac economists have warned the surprise shift to 25 basis points in October could have unintended consequences.

The concern is that the RBA's decision may have boosted confidence and delayed the slowdown in demand, keeping inflation higher for longer.

Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said a turnaround in the bank's monthly confidence survey for the month suggested consumers were indeed feeling more confident after the RBA's decision.

The collapse of the Australian dollar against the American dollar following the announcement could also fuel inflation, Mr Evans said.

The decision has also made a return to 50 basis points more dangerous.

"Just as we saw an overreaction in confidence from a positive shock, the impact of a larger tightening than expected is likely to be too damaging from the RBA's perspective," he said.

That's why the bank's economists expect the tightening cycle to go on for another month, but are sticking with 3.6 per cent as the end of the tightening cycle.

RBA assistant governor Michele Bullock is also due to make a speech at the Australian Finance Industry Association conference in Sydney.

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The weak Australian dollar and an uptick in petrol prices have consumers worried about rising prices.

Consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level since August, the last time fuel prices spiked.

The 2.8 per cent slide in weekly confidence as measured by an ANZ and Roy Morgan survey released on Tuesday follows a 1.1 per cent drop in the previous week.

The "good time to buy a major household item'" subindex also dropped by a notable 6.2 per cent.

ANZ economist David Plank says household spending has remained resilient despite the apparent concern showing up in consumer sentiment surveys, but he suspects the mismatch can't go on for much longer.

"The longer confidence remains so low, the greater the prospect that consumers become more cautious, especially with household wealth going backwards due to lower house and equity prices," he said.

Cost of living is only likely to surge following the latest round of flooding in southeast Australia, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has warned, with some of the best farmland in the country underwater.

"That has obvious consequences for crops and livestock," he told Sky News.

While Dr Chalmers said it was too early to tell how much damage the floods would do to the federal budget and the economy more broadly, he said the disaster would be factored into the budget's inflation projections.

At the moment, inflation is expected to peak at 7.75 per cent.

"I will do the work to update that figure, if it needs updating in the budget," Dr Chalmers said.

High inflation and other economic challenges will be discussed at a meeting of finance ministers in the Asia-Pacific to be attended by assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh.

Dr Leigh said climate change, sustainable development and digital connectivity would also be on the agenda at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.

Meanwhile, the reasoning behind the Reserve Bank of Australia's surprise decision to ease back to 25 basis point hikes, instead of the 50 basis point lift priced in by markets, will be revealed in the minutes of the board's October decision.

The central bank took its foot off the accelerator in October after four consecutive 0.5 percentage point hikes that have driven up the cost of mortgage repayments for homeowners.

JP Morgan economists expect the minutes to reflect the bank's data-driven approach to monetary decision-making when they are released on Tuesday.

October employment figures and September-quarter inflation are the notable data releases ahead of the November interest rates decision, with jobless figures due on Thursday and the quarterly consumer price index to be released next week.

Westpac economists have warned the surprise shift to 25 basis points in October could have unintended consequences.

The concern is that the RBA's decision may have boosted confidence and delayed the slowdown in demand, keeping inflation higher for longer.

RBA assistant governor Michele Bullock is also due to make a speech on Reserve Bank policy making at the Australian Finance Industry Association conference in Sydney.

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A senior Reserve Bank of Australia official has brushed off concerns the central bank has fallen out of step with its international counterparts by slowing down its pace of rate hikes.

Assistant governor Michele Bullock says the RBA has hiked rates just as fast - if not faster - than most central banks, noting that other banks meet less frequently to make interest rate decisions so need to move in bigger increments.

The RBA meets 11 times a year - every month except January - whereas the Federal Reserve in the US meets eight times a year.

Canadian and British central banks also meet eight times a year.

Ms Bullock said meeting more frequently had its advantages during times of uncertainty.

"It means that if we increase interest rates at every meeting, we can potentially move much faster than overseas central banks," Ms Bullock said at the Australian Finance Industry Association conference in Sydney.

"Or, alternatively, we can achieve a similar rise in interest rates with smaller increments."

Ms Bullock also said Australia was in a different position than other countries when it comes to monetary policy, with Australians thought to be more sensitive to rate hikes given high levels of household debt and the prevalence of variable-rate mortgages.

In October, the RBA hiked by a smaller-than-expected increment of 25 basis points, with the market expecting to see another 50 basis point lift.

There has been some concern that the RBA is not lifting interest rates as quickly as central banks around the world.

The treasurer has voiced his concerns that a widening gap between the US Federal Reserve's and the RBA's policy tightening cycle could further weaken the Australian dollar and drive up the cost of imports.

On the October decision, Ms Bullock said there was an "active discussion" internally and at the board meeting about the appropriate size of the cash rate increase.

"On the one hand, inflation is high and the labour market is very strong, which indicates a need for interest rates to rise further," she said.

"On the other hand, there has already been a substantial rise in interest rates since May, which, along with price rises, is beginning to put pressure on household budgets."

She also said the global economic environment had deteriorated quite sharply.

"For these reasons, the board felt that a smaller increase in October was warranted while it took stock of developments in consumption, wages and the international economy," she concluded.

She also said it still wasn't clear rising interest rates would hit household spending.

ANZ economist David Plank says household spending has remained resilient despite the apparent concern showing up in consumer sentiment surveys, but he suspects the mismatch can't go on for much longer.

"The longer confidence remains so low, the greater the prospect that consumers become more cautious, especially with household wealth going backwards due to lower house and equity prices," he said.

Consumer confidence as measured by an ANZ and Roy Morgan every week has fallen to its lowest level since August, the last time fuel prices spiked.

The 2.8 per cent slide in weekly confidence follows a 1.1 per cent drop in the previous week.

© AAP 2022