Brasilia, Jun 28 (IANS): The worst of inflation is over, president of the Central Bank of Brazil Roberto Campos Neto said.

He reiterated the statement by the country's Minister of Economy that the national Consumer Price Index, which measures official inflation, has started to "go down", reports Xinhua news agency.

"We still have an element of accelerating inflation. But for the first time, the last two figures were within expectations. We believe that the worst period of inflation in Brazil has passed," Campos Neto said.

In the last 12 months ending in May, Brazil's inflation climbed to 11.73 per cent, while the central bank estimates that it will reach 8.8 per cent in 2022, above the official target of 3.5 per cent.

In order to control inflation, the bank increased the benchmark interest rate (Selic) to 13.25 per cent annually in mid-June and indicated that at the next meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee it will raise interest rates by another half of a percentage point.

"All countries are moving ahead and raising interest rates. Brazil is already very close to finished. Other countries are in the middle of it. We will still see some countries raise interest rates by a lot," he said.

According to Campos Neto, it is necessary to analyze the effects of the monetary policies of greater contraction in the global economy, and most importantly, to know whether it is a global recession.