Media outlets, citing people familiar with the matter, report that the Bank of Japan may signal this month that core inflation has broadly reached its 2% target, underscoring its readiness to raise interest rates again in the coming months.

Such a statement would be largely symbolic, but it would reinforce the market's prevailing expectation that a rate hike will come in December and would also send a signal that the Bank of Japan is prepared to keep raising rates in the near term.

The Bank of Japan has begun to emphasize that, when judging the pace and timing of further rate increases, it needs core inflation to stabilize around its target.

People familiar with the matter said the central bank had just completed a rate hike in September, and most officials internally are cautious about raising rates again this month, preferring to wait for more data to assess the impact of the previous hike on domestic financial conditions.