The Reserve Bank Governor says Kiwis will ultimately benefit from today's OCR hike - the first in more than three years.

The cash rate has been raised to 2.5 percent.

Governor Anna Breman says inflation's been eating up household budgets.

She says getting inflation back down helps everyone.

"It will actually make sure that households get their purchasing power back, they can spend more, they can get more demand, and we will see better growth and employment coming back." 

LISTEN ABOVE