Italy's Monti says strong euro could hurt exports, sees no forex "war"

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti warned on Friday that a stronger euro could hurt exports but he brushed off talk of a foreign exchange "war" between major currency blocs.

"There are certainly currency tensions. It seems exaggerated to me to talk about a currency war," he told Italy's RAI radio.

"As far the risk that an excessively strong euro could harm exports of European countries, there's certainly that risk to a certain extent," he said.

However, he said that Germany's experience before the creation of the euro showed that it was possible for a country to be a major exporter even with a strong currency and said Italy needed to improve its competitiveness.

(Reporting By James Mackenzie)