Some Bank of Japan policymakers saw conditions falling into place for an imminent rate hike with one predicting a move "in the near future," a summary of opinions at the bank's December meeting showed,

A summary of opinions from the Bank of Japan’s December meeting suggests that the next interest-rate hike is approaching.

The BOJ held interest rates steady at 0.25% at this month's meeting, a move Gov. Kazuo Ueda explained was made on the need to scrutinize more data on next year's wage momentum and clarity on the incoming U.S. administration's economic policies.

Bank of Japan policymakers were divided between those who preferred to spend more time scrutinising data, and those who saw conditions falling into place to raise interest rates, a summary of opinions at the bank's December meeting showed.

The Summary of the Bank of Japan's December meeting revealed that policymakers discussed the possibility of a near-term rate hike, with some members noting that conditions were aligning for such a move.

The Bank of Japan released for the first time estimates on how future interest rate hikes could affect its earnings, which showed it will briefly suffer red ink of up to $13 billion if short-term borrowing costs were to go up to 2%.