ECB stands ready to offset exchange rate impact on inflation - Villeroy

PARIS (Reuters) - The European Central Bank stands ready to offset the impact of the foreign exchange rate on inflation, ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said in excerpts of an interview released on Wednesday.

ECB policymakers have grown concerned about the exchange rate as the euro has risen to its highest level against the dollar since April 2018, which can push down the prices of imported goods and weigh on already weak inflation.

"The ECB does not have an exchange rate target. But as (ECB President) Christine Lagarde said we are and will be very vigilant about the effects of the exchange rate on inflation," Villeroy, who is also governor of the French central bank, told French magazine Alternatives Economiques.

"And we are ready to use all our instruments without exception to counter the possible negative effects," he added.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Hugh Lawson)