Tax Holiday Helps Curb Malaysia Inflation

Thanks to a tax holiday, inflation in Malaysia slowed to the weakest pace since 2015 in June with consumer prices rising 0.8 percent from a year earlier. The mild inflation could support most economists’ predictions that the central bank will refrain from tightening monetary policy again this year after raising rates in January. In contrast, officials in Indonesia and the Philippines are facing calls for more aggressive tightening to defend their currencies amid an emerging-market selloff.