BUDAPEST, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian forint has weakened to over 328 against the euro, hitting a new low for the Hungarian currency this year, the financial online journal Portfolio reported on Thursday.

"The forint passed the bar of 328 HUF/EUR. This is just one hair away from the 330 psychological limit (reached last year)," Portfolio said.

"The EUR is now trading at 328.14, up 0.2 percent from yesterday. The big question is whether there will be a strengthening or not before the 330 limit," the journal said.

During the last few months, the forint traded around 323-325 HUF/EUR.

Analysts explain the weakening of the Hungarian currency by worrisome news of a slowing German economy -- Hungary's first trade partner -- and a persistence of the Hungarian National Bank MNB to keep the central bank base rate of the forint at an all time low of 0.9 percent.

Among competitor currencies in the region, the Polish zloty started the day with a 0.15-percent depreciation against the euro, while the Czech koruna was currently stagnating against the common European currency.