Washington  - The International Monetary Fund on Monday warned against a change in interest rates in the euro area amid record inflationary pressures, an ongoing financial crisis and a possible second round of economic shocks in the region.

Core inflation - which excludes food and energy prices that have shot up in the past year - remained "well contained" and inflation is expected to ease by the end of next year, the IMF said in an annual evaluation of the region by its board of directors.

"Further tightening of monetary policy may carry risks of its own," said Alessandro Leipold, acting director of the IMF's European Department. The directors "generally felt that policy rates are best kept on hold."

Leipold warned that the financial crisis continued to threaten the euro area economy, and that the IMF's forecast of 1.7-per-cent growth for this year "may well be shaved down" when the IMF and World Bank meet for their annual meetings in the autumn.

Consumer prices in the euro area climbed to a record 4.1 per cent in July, well above the European Central Bank's stated target of 2 per cent.

Inflation is at its highest level in the 10-year history of the European Monetary Union, putting added pressure on the ECB. The central bank last month raised rates for the first time in more than a year, by 0.25 percentage points to 4.25 per cent. (dpa)