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FRANKFURT, Oct 13 :(AFP) - The European Central Bank kept up its sabre-rattling on interest rates on Thursday, saying it was on high alert to potential inflationary risks in the eurozone economy.
The guardian of the euro remained "strongly vigilant" with regard to the inflationary effects of runaway oil prices and excess liquidity, a number of top ECB officials, including president Jean-Claude Trichet, said separately on Thursday.
And the ECB itself hammered home the same message in its latest monthly report.
"Given the recent oil price developments, the short-term outlook for inflation has significantly deteriorated," the ECB wrote its October monthly bulletin.
Euro area-wide inflation, as measured by the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP), "could remain at its current elevated levels for the rest of 2005," the bank warned.
In September, eurozone inflation shot up to 2.5 percent, way above the ECB's ceiling of 2.0 percent.
"While no detailed information on the different components of HICP is available as yet, it appears that oil price increases have again played an important role," the bank said.
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