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St George Illawarra bosses insist they can still salvage something out of 2023, with the decision to immediately sack Anthony Griffin aimed at trying to save their season.

Griffin was told by Dragons officials on Tuesday morning his time was up, and that he would not see out the final year of his contract after a six-match losing streak.

Ryan Carr will take over in the interim, with the Dragons assistant having previously served as an attacking coach at Parramatta and head coach in England.

Jason Ryles remains the primary target to take over as coach next year, with fellow former Dragon Ben Hornby another option alongside Dean Young.

Off-contract at the end of this year, Griffin had always been long odds to retain his job for 2024 after the board told him in March they were weighing up their options.

But ultimately the run of losses and a 2-8 record prompted his contract to be severed with five and a half months still to run, with the board fearing this year was going to waste.

"We're hoping to get better results out of them for 2023," club CEO Ryan Webb told AAP.

"When the process started looking for 2024, Anthony was one of the names. His interview was the results on the field.

"That's the position we started with. We had to see who else was out there alongside him. Ultimately the results of the past six weeks haven't been there.

"The board's decision is we want to see what we can do this year. We think we have some better results in us now, so they wanted to go with the change."

Griffin arrived for work at the Dragons' headquarters at Wollongong early on Tuesday, but left shortly after when asked to meet with Webb and chairman Andrew Lancaster.

By that point a decision had already been made, with directors agreeing on Monday night to cut the coach loose ahead of Tuesday's board meeting.

It ends a turbulent two and a half years at the helm.

The club won 22 of 57 games under Griffin and failed to make the finals in any season, while several players complained of communication issues with the coach.

Charged with developing the club's juniors on his arrival, Griffin regularly brought them in and out of first grade and had Tyrell Sloan and Jayden Sullivan request releases at the end of last year.

Both eventually stayed, but Griffin's decision to bench halfback Sullivan for most of Saturday night's 42-22 loss to North Queensland raised eyebrows.

Griffin's chances of claiming another head coaching job in the short term now appear slim.

"This is someone's livelihood. It's sad to see," Dragons forward Jack de Belin said.

"It's very sad when anyone loses their job regardless of what field or expertise they're in. I have a lot of sympathy in that sense.

"A lot of that is on us players. I have a lot of guilt in the sense that I could have done more and probably helped out. It is pretty sad."

De Belin said he could understand fan fury at the club, with bosses set to meet with members on Tuesday night.

"Dragons fans are very passionate, loud supporters and we haven't given them the results they deserve," he said.

"It'd be very frustrating to be a Dragons supporter, no doubt."

© AAP 2023

The Reserve Bank board is ready to lift interest rates again as the spiralling rental crisis, sluggish productivity growth and other concerning trends threaten to derail the central bank's plan to rein in inflation.

In the minutes from the May meeting, board members agreed it was another close call but ultimately landed on another 25 basis point hike.

The decision came as a surprise to markets and several economists, with most expecting the RBA to stay on hold for another month after hitting pause in April.

And there might be more rate hikes to come, with members agreeing "further increases in interest rates may still be required".

ANZ head of Australian economics Adam Boyton said the minutes were on the "hawkish side", with the use of the plural "increases" raising the prospect interest rates could lift earlier and higher than expected.

"We look for one final rate hike from the RBA in August," he said.

Throughout the "finely balanced" deliberations, members considered "several arguments" for a hike and keeping the cash rate on hold.

RBC Capital economists Su-Lin Ong and Robert Thompson said there were no new developments feeding into decision-making, with the hike case fuelled by pressures in the rental market, persistent services inflation, the risk of a wage-price spiral and the recovery in home prices.

Ms Ong and Mr Thompson said the turnaround in the property market could lift the confidence of consumers and drive the wealth effect, which is when people spend more when their assets rise because they feel richer.

The risk of weak productivity growth and unit labour costs growing "uncomfortably fast" also helped nudge the board towards another hike.

On the other hand, board members recognised inflation had clearly peaked, consumption was weak and households were feeling financial pressure from rising mortgage costs and high inflation.

Board members reiterated that interest rate movements tended to hit with a lag.

The May hike has been weighing on the minds of consumers with a confidence index falling 7.9 per cent in May, nearing levels last seen when the pandemic started in 2020.

The index, compiled each month by Westpac and the Melbourne Institute, showed consumers have been uneasy since the surprise interest rate hike and the federal budget.

While not necessarily damning of the budget, the index reflected limitations on the government to hand out more cost of living relief at a time of high inflation, Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said.

Consumer surveys also tend to dip before and after budgets, he said.

The wobbly consumer confidence results come as former RBA governor Glenn Stevens warns businesses about ongoing economic turbulence.

Speaking at a gas industry event, Mr Stevens said Australia was unlikely to experience a repeat of the last global financial crisis, which he navigated as governor, but central banks were in the middle of a once-in-a-generation battle to return inflation to target.

"Inflation is still way too high compared with central banks' and national objectives," he said in Adelaide on Tuesday.

Under a deal that could add to price pressures, public service employees have been offered a 10.5 per cent pay rise across three years.

The deal for Australian public service employees, which takes into account inflation and other economic conditions, includes a four per cent lift in the first year, 3.5 per cent in the second year and three per cent in the third.

© AAP 2023

The Reserve Bank board is prepared to lift interest rates again depending on the state of the economy and the trajectory for still high but sinking inflation.

In the minutes from the May board meeting where members landed on another 25 basis point hike to the surprise of markets and many experts, board members considered "several arguments" for a hike and keeping the cash rate on hold.

Despite pausing interest rates in April to allow new data and information about the economy to come to light, board members became nervous about the risk of inflation proving harder to dislodge than the modelling would suggest.

Topping the list of possible "upside surprises" for inflation was housing costs, with board members concerned strong population growth and low rental vacancy rate could push rents up even higher than already imagined

The prospect of persistent service inflation observed in other countries was also flagged as a concern, as well as the risk of productivity growth staying very weak and allowing unit labour costs to grow "uncomfortably fast".

Board members also remain wary of price setting and wages following one another, making it difficult to get inflation down quickly, as well as the influence of the April pause on home prices (which had been lifting) and the exchange rate (which had been depreciating).

On the other hand, inflation had clearly peaked and consumption was weak when considered per person and households were clearly feeling financial pressure from rising mortgage costs and high inflation.

Plus, board members reiterated that interest rate movements tend to hit with a lag.

"In weighing up the two options, members recognised that the arguments were finely balanced but judged it was appropriate to increase interest rates at this meeting," the minutes read.

In terms of communicating the decision, the board wanted to make it clear that members were determined to bring inflation back within target without triggering a recession, and would base its decisions on incoming data and how the various inflation risks evolved.

"Members also agreed that further increases in interest rates may still be required, but that this would depend on how the economy and inflation evolve," they concluded.

A confidence index, compiled each month by Westpac and the Melbourne Institute showed consumers have been uneasy since the May hike as well as the federal budget.

The index fell 7.9 per cent to 79 points in May from 85.8 in April.

Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said the index had almost fallen back to the "dismal levels" seen in March, when the index recorded its lowest monthly reading since the pandemic kicked off in 2020.

While not necessarily damning of the budget, the index was a reflection of the limitations on the government to hand out more cost of living relief at a time of high inflation, Mr Evans said.

Consumer surveys also tend to dip before and after budgets, he noted.

While consumers remain lukewarm on the inflation and debt-constrained federal budget, the Labor government's efforts to address fiscal issues has secured its triple-A credit rating assigned by Fitch Ratings.

The agency ticked off the federal government's decision to bank most of the revenue gains from strong commodity prices and a robust labour market.

Early steps to improve structural budget pressures by reforming the NDIS and bringing in extra revenue were also noted, although the agency said more work was needed.

© AAP 2023