DAVOS-Yen stable; few positives from FX intervention-ADB

By Natsuko Waki

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 29 (Reuters) - The Japanese yen, which hit a 13-year high against the dollar this month, is stable near 90 and the currency is not considered overvalued, the President of the Asian Development Bank said on Thursday.

Haruhiko Kuroda, who is also former Japanese vice finance minister of international affairs, said efforts to temper export-damaging currency strength are unlikely to have a positive impact given the economy is slowing down globally.

The yen rose as high as 87.11 per dollar earlier in January, its highest in 13 years. Since then, it has fluctuated at around 88-91.

"The yen has been stable at around 89 (per dollar). Foreign exchange intervention depends on many things including market sentiment," Kuroda told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"At this stage, I don't think the yen is considered overvalued or the dollar is considered undervalued. We have a simultaneous global slowdown. It is hard to expect a positive impact on exports even if you weaken your currency alone." On the subject of China's two-year, 4 trillion yuan ($580 billion) stimulus package, announced in November, Kuroda said even more could be forthcoming.

"China's (fiscal package) is direct government spending so it will have an impact (on the economy). They may speed up the pace of (spending on) public infrastructure. If they judge it is not enough, they might do more."

The ADB is seeking to hammer out an agreement among its 67 shareholder countries on a capital increase, its biggest ever, at its annual general meeting in May on the Indonesian island of Bali.

Kuroda said on Thursday that the bank wants the increase to be as much as 200 percent.

For full coverage, blogs and TV from Davos go to www.reuters.com/davos

(Editing by Simon Jessop)