The Bank of Korea (BOK) is widely expected to raise its benchmark interest rate on Thursday, with markets focusing on whether the central bank will signal further tightening, analysts said Monday. The BOK is anticipated to raise its policy rate by 0.25 percentage points, to 2.75 percent, at Thursday's Monetary Policy Board meeting, in what would mark its first rate increase since January 2023. Markets are increasingly eyeing another 0.25 percentage point hike as early as August or October. Citibank expects the central bank to raise rates unanimously this week. "We expect the BOK to hike its policy rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent without a dissenting opinion. We expect Gov. Shin Hyun-song's press conference will likely point to a gradual pace of hiking cycle for the second half of 2026, implying a 25 basis points hike per quarter," Citibank economist Kim Jin-wook wrote in a report. Citibank expects the BOK to continue its gradual tightening cycle, with additional 0.25 percentage point hikes in October, January and April in 2027, bringing the policy rate to a terminal rate of 3.5 pe