By Fergal Smith

TORONTO, FIFA World Cup March 29 (Reuters) - As Canada's inflation outlook worsens, FIFA World Cup investors are betting the country's central bank will begin hiking its key interest rate in half-percentage-point increments, with the first of the rarely used upsized moves possibly coming as soon as next month.

Money markets expect the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates by between 200 and 225 basis points in the six remaining interest rate announcements in 2022, FIFA World Cup up from about 140 basis points before a blockbuster employment report this month.

That bet implies that up to three of those meetings could result in hikes greater than the quarter-percentage-point increments usually favored by the central bank.

The last time it pushed through a half-percentage-point hike was in May 2000.

Canada's economy could be particularly sensitive to a faster pace of interest rate hikes after households ramped up borrowing to record levels during the COVID-19 pandemic to participate in a red-hot housing market.