The Bank of Japan (BOJ) may signal this month that underlying inflation has broadly reached its 2% target, according to sources cited by Reuters. This would significantly strengthen market pricing for a December rate hike, with overnight index swaps already pushing the probability to 80%. The sources emphasized that while the data is sufficient to support the central bank's public confirmation of "achieving the target," it is not enough to persuade most committee members to implement consecutive rate hikes this month. Government representatives have also uncharacteristically pressured the central bank to carefully assess the cumulative effects of previous rate hikes.