Poland"s central bank will probably hike rates by 50 basis points in January, rate-setter Lukasz Hardt said on Saturday, part of a cycle of tightening monetary policy aimed at curbing a rise in inflation. "It is very likely that there will be upcoming hikes. I expect that the most likely move of the Monetary Policy Council in January is another hike of 50bps," Hardt told private radio RMF. The central bank raised Poland"s main interest rate by 75 basis points to 1.25% in November and to 1.75% at its December meeting. Hardt said he believed inflation was now close to its peak and could possibly rise to just above 8% this month. Inflation data for December will be released on Jan. 7. The consumer price index stood at 7.7% year-on-year in November. He added that the government"s anti-inflationary package was expected to lower inflation by between 1% and 1.5% while it was in force. Reporting by Joanna Plucinska and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk Editing by Edmund Blair and Gareth Jones Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.