European Central Bank interest rate hikes could take longer than usual to pass through to the real economy and their impact could be more muted, ECB board member Isabel Schnabel said in a newspaper interview.

"Given the current shortage of workers, one could expect monetary policy transmission to be weaker than usual," Belgian newspaper De Tijd quoted her as saying on Wednesday.

Schnabel added that loans with fixed-term rates have also become more prevalent and thus it may take longer than previously to see the impact of tighter monetary policy. (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Andrew Heavens)