Kazakh c.bank says will prevent tenge overvaluation

ASTANA, Oct 19 - Kazakhstan's central bank will prevent its tenge currency from strengthening too much to protect economic competitiveness, central bank chairman Grigory Marchenko said on Monday.

The central bank has kept the tenge <KZT=> pegged to the dollar since late 2007, adjusting the rate in February 2009 in a swift 18-percent devaluation.

The tenge has traded at around 150 per dollar since then but Kazakhstan is set to boost oil output significantly in coming years and analysts say increasing export revenues could once again drive the tenge up against the dollar.

"We will not allow for overvaluation of the national currency that could negatively affect the competitiveness of domestic producers in the constantly changing global markets," Marchenko told a meeting of the ruling Nur Otan party.

"The exchange rate will be aimed at maintaining the balance between internal and external competitiveness of Kazakhstan's economy." (Reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva; writing by Olzhas Auyezov; writing by Patrick Graham)