Malaysia Hits Deflation for First Time Since 2009 Global Crisis

Malaysia’s economy swung into deflation in January for the first time since the aftermath of the global financial crisis in 2009 as fuel prices dropped.

Consumer prices declined 0.7 percent from a year ago after hovering below 1 percent in the previous seven months, according to the statistics department. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 21 economists was for a contraction of 0.4 percent.