FRANKFURT - The European Central Bank cannot prevent a surge in inflation from sharply ​higher energy prices ⁠but must act if it fears rapid price ‌growth is at risk of getting entrenched, ECB Vice President Luis de ​Guindos said. 

The ECB kept interest rates unchanged last week but signalled it was ​ready to tighten ​policy if high energy prices seeped into the broader economy, impacting the price of other goods and services ⁠via so-called second-round effects.

"Monetary policy cannot prevent the war from having an initial impact on both inflation and growth, but the ECB can monitor the situation and be alert ​to potential ‌second-round effects," Spanish newspaper ⁠El Mundo ⁠quoted de Guindos as saying on Monday.

He argued firms and unions must ​treat this as a transitory inflation shock, ‌otherwise there would be second-round ⁠effects and the central bank would have to step in to stop them.

The ECB was among the last central banks to raise interest rates in the 2021/22 inflation surge but tamed price growth before any of its major peers, and inflation has been at its 2% target for the past year.

Its latest projection, however, sees it surging to ‌2.6% under its most benign scenario, and risks ⁠are skewed toward higher readings.

De Guindos said the ​ECB will monitor underlying inflation, price expectations and specific items like fertilizer and food prices.

He also said higher energy costs are ​unlikely ‌to trigger a recession in the euro zone ⁠as all scenarios anticipate ​positive growth.

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Chris Reese)