The yen is still relatively overvalued despite its recent steep fall from historic peaks versus the U.S. dollar, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Monday.

The yen is valued highly in relative terms when considering fundamentals, Noda said in parliament.

Finance Minister Jun Azumi added in parliament that he could not say whether the yen is correctly valued at present.

Early in February the Japanese currency advanced towards a record high against the dollar, but it has retreated nearly 10 percent after the Bank of Japan's monetary easing and brighter prospects for the US economy. The dollar was down 0.3 percent at 82.16 yen, hovering below a 10-1/2 month high above 82.60 yen hit on Friday.

(Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Joseph Radford)

Japan