Bank of France governor Mr Jean-Claude Trichet said in an interview with business magazine Oikonomikos Tahydromosthat price stability must be maintained as far as possible in the euro zone.
On Thursday, French Finance Minister Mr Francis Mer caused doubts about his government's attitude to the EU Stability and Growth Pact by saying the pact is not "set in tablets of stone."
It is "very, very important for the prosperity of the euro zone and each economy that price stability be maintained as much as possible," Mr Trichet told the magazine.
Asked about arguments that the stability pact should be applied more flexibly, Mr Trichet defended the pact, stressing its importance to prevent budgetary imbalances.
"Although we have no (EU) federal budget and no federal government, the imperative for each national budgetary policy to be cautious enables to avoid possible asymmetrical shocks," the governor said.
"In a single currency zone, it is of course essential for the prosperity of the zone and the prosperity of each economy in the zone that there should be no loss of competitiveness," he warned.
The Stability and Growth Pactlays out strict limits on public finances and envisages that the public finances of the European Union member-states be balanced by 2004.
PA