ECB must take determined steps to root out high inflation, de Guindos says

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank must prioritize the fight against inflation over growth concerns and needs determined policy steps to stop high price growth from getting entrenched, ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said on Thursday.

"Monetary policy needs to be focused on price stability," de Guindos said in Lisbon. "Determined action is essential to keep inflation expectations anchored, which in itself contributes to delivering price stability and avoids second-round effects in inflation."

"We need to guard against second-round effects such as the risk of a persistent upward shift in inflation expectations," he added.

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Francesco Canepa)