Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda has plenty of data to support the case for raising the benchmark rate in December, an outcome that would mark the first tightening of policy three times in a calendar year since the peak of Japan’s asset bubble in 1989.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the timing of the next interest rate hike was "approaching" as the economy was moving in line with the central bank's forecasts, the Nikkei newspaper reported, leaving open the chance of a December rate increase.