Bangkok - The Thai baht hit a nine-month low against the dollar Wednesday, trading at 34.15 to the greenback, bank sources said.

The sharp decline in the currency was attributed to heavy buying of dollars by foreign banks in Thailand and importers, said the Kasikorn Research Center, a think-tank attached to Kasikorn Bank.

Like most Asian currencies, the Thai baht has steadily appreciated against the dollar, gaining almost 20 per cent over the past two years before starting to weaken in June in the wake of rising inflation, growing political instability, declines on the stock market and slowing growth projections.

KRC projected the baht would continue to depreciate against the dollar in the short run, in tandem with other Asian currencies which have also been weakening against the greenback.

The think tank said the weaker baht might help boost Thai exports that were expected to slow in the latter part of this year as a result of economic slowdowns in South-East Asia, Europe, Japan and the United States.

Despite the baht's strength against the dollar during the first half of 2008, which made its exports more expensive on the world market, the kingdom still managed to export 87.11 trillion dollars worth of goods, a 23.1 per cent increase year-on-year. (dpa)