| Azlan Othman |

THE Brunei dollar slipped below the RM3 mark over the past few days following continued strengthening of the Malaysian currency.

The Sunday Bulletin found that the Brunei dollar fell to a low of RM2.98 before rising back up to RM2.99 after conducting a survey at four moneychangers in the capital and in Gadong over the last few days.

Staff at moneychangers said they were unaware of the currency drop, pointing out that they received the Malaysian notes from their suppliers without additional information.

“(The Brunei dollar) has been under RM3 since two days ago,” said one staff.

Another employee from Gadong noted that this has been the situation over the past three days. “However as this is not a school holiday period or peak season for border hoppers, the number of people changing their money is not that big,” she said.

Data from Bloomberg indicated that the Singapore dollar fell to an intraday low of RM2.9955 before rising back up to RM2.9994. The Brunei dollar is pegged to the Singapore dollar.

Reuters meanwhile reported that this is the lowest drop for the Singapore currency since it touched RM2.9941 on August 31 last year. It is also the first time the ringgit has crossed the psychological level of 3.0 versus the Singapore dollar since October 5 last year when it touched RM2.9986, according to Reuters data.

Analysts have predicted that regional currencies could weaken in the face of a generally stronger US dollar.

The majority of Asian currencies were subdued against a stronger US dollar on Friday, sullen by new doubts over whether the United States (US) and China are able to agree to a trade deal before the March 1 deadline and downgrades on global growth.

Markets anticipating progress on the US-China trade talks were dismayed when President Donald Trump said he did not plan to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before the deadline to achieve a deal.

Separately, the European Commission slashed its forecasts for eurozone economic growth this year and the next citing trade frictions and domestic challenges, compounding concerns about a slowdown in global growth.

This came on the back of an unexpected slowdown in Germany, tensions over lacklustre growth prospects in Italy, and the French “yellow vest” protests.