According to sources familiar with the situation, given the current price trend and the Bank of Japan's belief that the impact of current interest rate hikes on the economy is limited, the bank may continue to maintain a rapid pace of rate hikes. The next rate hike is expected to take place in December. These individuals stated that central bank officials believe that the core inflation trend has basically reached a level consistent with the Bank of Japan's 2% target. But at the same time, it is pointed out that the current policy interest rate still has a certain distance from the neutral interest rate. In this context, these individuals believe that the central bank is facing an increasingly urgent need to stabilize core inflation near the target level. As long as the economic and inflation development meets the expectations of the central bank, the recently accelerated pace of interest rate hikes will continue to some extent. They emphasized that there is no fixed path to adjusting borrowing costs, and the specific decision depends on the economic outlook, related risks, and the cumulative impact of previous interest rate hikes. However, they also stated that the central bank does not consider it necessary to immediately raise interest rates again after last month's rate hike. They said that another interest rate hike may come as early as December.