According to CoinMeta, data released by the Japanese government on Friday showed that in September, the core CPI excluding fresh food rose by 2.1% year-on-year, higher than the 1.7% in August. This result may further reinforce market expectations that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will tighten its monetary policy in December, when it may raise interest rates by another 25 basis points to 1.5%. The market generally expects that the BOJ's Policy Board will maintain the interest rate unchanged at its meeting next week to assess the impact of previous rate hikes. The continued weakness of the yen and rising international oil prices are pushing up the cost of imported raw materials for Japan, putting continuous upward pressure on consumer prices in the country. With Japan's underlying inflation rate now very close to the central bank's target of 2%, BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda stated that the central bank must pay more attention to the risk of rising inflation.