UPDATE 1-Slovak crown hits new record on strong economy

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BRATISLAVA, March 8 (Reuters) - The Slovak crown firmed to a new all-time high of 34.000 per euro on Thursday, rising thanks to the country's strong economic performance and foreign direct investment inflows, traders said.

Data released earlier this week showed the Slovak economy posted record growth of 8.3 percent in 2006, driven mainly by investments to export-oriented car industry.

The crown was further boosted as South Korea's Samsung Electronics confirmed on Thursday that it had picked Slovakia as the site for a new liquid crystal displays assembly plant.

The crown began to rise on Wednesday after an exclusive Reuters report said Slovakia would host the plant.

"There is strong demand for crowns from foreign banks," said VUB Bank trader Laco Benedek. "This is related to Samsung, the overall prospects of the Slovak economy and calming emerging markets."

Traders said the crown looked set to firm further beyond the psychological level of 34.0 per euro.

Economic growth is expected to accelerate further this year and beat the 2006 rate as new car assembly plants of PSA Peugeot Citroen and Kia Motors, completed last year, boost production.

The Slovak currency has firmed 4.2 percent versus the euro in the past six weeks, from this year's lows of 35.440. The previous all-time high was 34.050 per euro, which the unit hit at the end of December.

The crown was the best performing currency in central Europe in 2006, rising by almost 10 percent against the euro. But the unit's jump at the end of last year sparked a central bank (NBS) intervention to slow down the rise.

Dealers said they did not expect the central bank to act to curb the strong currency, saying the NBS appeared to have become more tolerant to crown strength thanks to rising productivity in the economy.

The crown's climb has helped keep a lid on consumer prices, aiding Slovakia's attempts to be eligible to adopt the euro according to the plan in 2009.