Kazutaka Maeda, a senior economist at Meiji Yasuda Research Institute, said the Bank of Japan's December policy meeting could be a reasonable time for its next rate hike. According to Sina Finance, Maeda said the BOJ's outlook report showed it had become more optimistic about exports and capital spending driven by AI-related demand, further shifting its policy focus toward upside risks to inflation and economic activity. Although the BOJ's inflation forecasts remain broadly consistent with its 2% target, it appears increasingly aware that inflation could overshoot and may be considering rate hikes every three months rather than the previously assumed six-month pace.