The European Central Bank's raft of interest rate hikes may be hitting the economy harder than expected, ECB policymaker Pablo Hernandez de Cos said on Wednesday, adding he and colleagues should consider this risk when they decide how high borrowing costs should be.

"This analysis confirms that a stronger than expected monetary policy impact remains a downside risk to the euro area growth outlook," he told an event in Frankfurt. "Thus we shall be closely monitoring the materialisation of such risks and calibrate accordingly the degree of monetary restriction."

(Reporting By Francesco Canepa Editing by Balazs Koranyi)