Brasilia, Jul 1 (IANS): Inflation in Brazil in 2022 will exceed the official target ceiling, with the year's price index reaching 8.8 per cent, the Central Bank of Brazil said in its Quarterly Inflation Report.

If the forecast bears out, it will mark the second year in a row that the bank fails to meet the inflation target set by the National Monetary Council, Xinhua news agency reported.

For 2022, the official inflation target was set at 3.5 per cent, with a margin of tolerance of 1.5 percentage points.

In March, there was an 88 per cent probability that inflation would surpass the target ceiling, but now there is a 100 per cent probability, the bank said on Thursday.

One of the bank's fundamental obligations is to ensure the purchasing power of the population. However, the President of the bank, Roberto Campos Neto, said at the beginning of the year that oil and energy were putting pressure on the price index.

Last year's inflation target was 3.75 per cent, with a tolerance margin of 1.5 percentage points.