(BRUSSELS) - European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet defended on Friday the ECB's often criticised focus on fighting inflation before all else, arguing this stance underpinned growth and jobs.

"Price stability is a necessary condition to sustainable economic growth, job creation and social cohesion," Trichet told a conference in Brussels on the euro's first 10 years of existence.

With a mandate to ensure price stability, the ECB strives to keep annual eurozone inflation at close to but less than 2.0 percent.

With inflation currently running well over 3.0 percent, the ECB has left is key interest rate on hold -- unlike the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England -- to focus on keeping prices in check.

Critics, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, say this means the ECB is neglecting the need to bolster growth by lowering lending costs.

Trichet said the ECB's "track record over the past 10 years has been widely recognised as being more than satisfactory" in terms of delivering relatively stable prices.

"Actual inflation may temporarily drift away from the bank's medium-term objective (but) ... what is important is that the monetary policy stance is permanently designed to ... provide price stability in the medium-term," he said.

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