Thai, Malaysian Growth Slow, Heralding Policy Caution

Thailand and Malaysia’s economies expanded the least in three quarters, adding to signs of a moderating Asian rebound that may prompt policy makers to slow interest-rate increases.

Gross domestic product in Thailand, Southeast Asia’s largest economy after Indonesia, increased 6.7 percent in the three months through September from a year earlier, after growing 9.2 percent in the second quarter, the government said yesterday. Malaysia’s economy expanded 5.3 percent last quarter, compared with an 8.9 percent rate in the previous three months, its central bank said.