TOKYO - JAPAN on Thursday gave its strongest hint yet that it may intervene in the markets to bring down the value of the yen, which has soared to a 13-year high against the dollar.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura, the government's spokesman, said Japan had to take action to control the high currency, which hurts Japanese exporters already suffering from the global downturn.

'We think that we need an appropriate and timely response,' he told a news conference.

Asked whether the government was considering stepping into the market, he said: 'We have intervened on the market before and we will take appropriate measures including (the option) of that.'

Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa separately told reporters: 'The acceleration in the yen's strength is a negative factor for Japan's export industry. It is my role to take a necessary policy.'

Japan can order yen-selling by the central bank to bring down its currency.

But it has not intervened in the market since March 2004, letting the yen find its own value.

The foreign exchange market is closely watching the Bank of Japan, which is holding a two-day meeting to Friday, to see if it cuts interest rates, potentially easing the currency's surge.

The dollar has slumped against the yen and the euro since the US Federal Reserve this week slashed interest rates to virtually zero in a drastic bid to bolster the ailing US economy.

The greenback was at 87.16 yen (S$1.43) in early Tokyo trade Thursday. -- AFP