* All 26 analysts surveyed saw BOK keeping rates steady at 0.50% * Analysts see rate hikes from 2022 * BOK sees economy logging fastest expansion in over a decade * Inflation outlook for 2021 raised to 1.8% vs 1.3% before * Governor Lee’s news conference to begin at 0220 GMT (Adds analyst comment) SEOUL, May 27 (Reuters) - South Korea’s central bank kept monetary policy unchanged on Thursday but upgraded its economic outlook as exports and inflation perked up, shifting the focus to the prospects of an end to current accommodative settings. The Bank of Korea, as expected by all 26 analysts in a Reuters poll, kept the base rate steady at a historic low of 0.50%. It now sees Asia’s fourth-largest economy logging the fastest growth since 2010, as it upgraded its outlook to 4.0% from the 3.0% projected in February. Consumer inflation is seen at 1.8%, up from 1.3%. All eyes are on Governor Lee Ju-yeol’s news conference at 0220 GMT, where investors will look for leads on when the bank is likely to end its run on emergency level stimulus. “We could see dissenting voices (in the monetary policy board) in the fourth quarter and a rate hike in the first quarter of next year,” said Cho Yong-gu, fixed-income strategist at Shinyoung Securities. “It looks like they are moving in tandem with the U.S. Federal Reserve as the Fed begins discussing tightening.” Three-year treasury bond futures fell 0.10 points soon after the release of revised growth and inflation forecasts, as investors increasingly expect policymakers to take a hawkish turn. Governor Lee in March said he sees stronger recovery powered by stellar chip exports and an uptick in consumption. President Moon Jae-in this month said the economy could expand more than 4% this year and vowed to boost fiscal spending if needed to increase jobs, as the country struggles with hundreds of new coronavirus cases daily. Despite the challenges, the economy is still heating up with April exports surging at their sharpest pace in more than a decade, while consumer inflation accelerated to a near-four year high. The bank, like its counterparts worldwide, faces the critical question of when to withdraw loose monetary policy as inflation expectations grow. The Bank of Canada last month become the first major central bank to pull back extraordinary stimulus launched during the pandemic, a move followed by Iceland last week. Most analysts in a Reuters poll see the BOK raising rates at least once during 2022. (Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Sam Holmes)