ECB's Schnabel says energy shock pass through key for rates

LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - ​The ⁠extent to which ​rises in energy prices spread through ​the ‌economy will be key ⁠to the European Central ⁠Bank's decisions on ​whether to raise interest rates, ECB board member Isabel Schnabel ​said ‌on Thursday.

"If we see that ... the higher costs are being passed through ​and that wages do ‌increase, that is then the sign that monetary ‌policy has to react," Schnabel said at an event hosted by ​the London School of Economics.

Schnabel ‌added that businesses' selling price expectations had already increased in ⁠the ⁠euro zone, and ‌that although wage growth had not yet ​picked ​up, waiting for ‌that to materialise would be "too late." (Reporting by David Milliken; editing by Marc Jones)