[Sources: Bank of Japan may pledge further rate hikes at next week's policy meeting] According to three sources, the Bank of Japan may maintain its commitment to further rate hikes at next week's meeting but will emphasize that the pace of additional hikes will depend on how the economy responds to each increase. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda has essentially pre-announced a December rate hike, and the market has almost fully priced in the possibility of raising the interest rate from 0.5% to 0.75% in December. Market attention has shifted to how far the Bank of Japan can raise rates to reach a neutral level. Sources indicate that while the central bank may internally update its estimate of how far its policy rate is from what is considered neutral, it will not use this estimate as the primary communication tool for future rate hike paths due to the difficulty of making precise predictions. Instead, the Bank of Japan will explain that future rate hike decisions will be based on considerations of how past hikes have affected bank lending, corporate financing conditions, and other economic activities. One of the sources stated, 'Japan's real interest rates are very low, which allows the Bank of Japan to continue raising rates in several stages.' The other two sources shared the same view.