BERLIN (Reuters) - Measures to combat the euro zone crisis must not come at the cost of price stability, German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said on Thursday, a day after he urged the European Central Bank to return to its core mandate as soon as possible.

"There is a price we are not willing to pay - the cost of price stability," Roesler told the Bundestag lower house of parliament, also adding that the ECB must remain independent.

On Wednesday, he said that the ECB must return to its normal mode of monetary policy as quickly as possible after extraordinary measures to tackle the euro zone crisis.

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers and Sarah Marsh)