0610 GMT - The Bank of Japan's policy statement released Friday signals that the bank will likely maintain a faster pace than the timeline of hiking roughly twice a year, which had been expected by markets previously, says Daiwa Securities economist Kento Minami. "The key is the [BOJ's] assessment that financial conditions will remain accommodative even after the policy interest rate change," Minami says. Although Friday's rate hike pushed the policy rate above the lower bound of the BOJ's estimated neutral interest rate range of 1.1% to 2.5%, the bank retains its view that monetary conditions are still easy, he adds. That provides grounds for the central bank to tighten monetary policy further.