The Bank of Japan governor says the BOJ will carefully examine the timing of future rate hikes rather than setting a schedule in advance. Ueda Kazuo cited uncertainties surrounding the US economy.

He made the remarks in a speech at a meeting with business leaders in Osaka on Tuesday.

Ueda said a BOJ assessment shows that the Japanese economy has recovered moderately and the trend is expected to continue.

The BOJ chief said it would be appropriate to raise the benchmark rate if underlying inflation rises in line with the bank's outlook.

But he added that policy needs to take into account "various uncertainties," rather than be based on "a fixed schedule set in advance."

Ueda said the BOJ needs to carefully monitor economies overseas, particularly the US. The same goes for financial and capital markets, which continue to be unstable.

He also said the central bank will need to examine how Japan's economy responds to rate hikes after many years of low borrowing costs.