YANGON: Zaw Moe Ko was happy that his boss in Myanmar’s commercial centre of Yangon pays him in dollars – until the pandemic struck. Now he can’t get rid of them fast enough. “I feel safer now when I have kyat rather than US dollars, ” he said, in what’s become a more widespread vote of confidence in the local currency. “If I only have US notes, it will be hard for me to buy goods in a local market.” In a year that’s upended so many norms, the dollar’s crown has slipped. The world’s reserve currency is trailing its Group-of-10 peers, but its slide is most evident in some shallower markets on the fringes of global finance. The kyat has gained as much as 11% versus the dollar – Asia’s best performance.