Data released by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission showed that Queensland's small business owners continue to bear the brunt of uneven economic conditions, making up more than 80 percent of the state's initial insolvency reports, the Courier-Mail reported today. Queensland's small business insolvency is higher than the national average of 78 percent. Of the 1468 initial external administration reports filed for Queensland businesses, 1192 involved companies that employed fewer than 20 people.

China's government said yesterday that it has increased scrutiny of trading houses, and that exchanges set up without Beijing's approval will be banned from trading derivatives and other financial products, the Wall Street Journal reported today. In the January-October period, 58 trading houses were established, the state-run China Daily newspaper said Thursday. "Currently, some trading houses are conducting stock futures trading without regulatory approval.

India's rupee fell to a record, prompting the central bank to say it is weighing action to stem the worst performance in Asia this year, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The rupee weakened 0.3 percent to 52.3225 per dollar in Mumbai, bringing its decline in 2011 to 14.6 percent. The BSE India Sensitive Index (SENSEX) of shares tumbled 22 percent in the period as investors sold emerging market assets on concern the U.S. and Europe will struggle to curb deficits.

China and Hong Kong said yesterday that they have doubled the value of a bilateral currency swap to 400 billion yuan ($62.92 billion) as Beijing seeks to expand the pool of yuan set aside to ease any strain on foreign banks that may be under pressure to access the Chinese currency, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The expanded swap agreement allows the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the territory's de facto central bank, to tap a yuan pool from the People's Bank of China.

Thailand's economy may shrink 3.7 percent this quarter following the worst flooding in almost 70 years, the government said, adding to the case for an interest- rate cut as early as next week, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Gross domestic product rose 3.5 percent in the three months through September from a year earlier, after climbing a revised 2.7 percent in the previous quarter, the National Economic and Social Development Board said in Bangkok today. It also forecast the contraction and lowered its estimate for 2011 growth to 1.5 percent, from as much as 4 percent earlier.

Local governments in China are complaining that monetary tightening by the central bank is behind their problems with economic growth, revenue and debt, but if they are hoping that the top leadership in Beijing will alter monetary policy, they are going to have to wait, according to a Reuters analysis yesterday.

There is now evidence that the euro zone debt crisis is not only spreading to banks by undermining their ability to fund themselves, but to the major trading partners with the region. In this case, that is China, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. And what is bad for China is definitely bad for the global economy. In fact, news of a slowdown in China will probably eclipse any of the good news coming out of the U.S. Any negative impact on the U.S. economy from the euro zone crisis may be slower in showing through, even though U.S.

The focus of media coverage of the last week has been squarely on Kingfisher Airlines (KFA), when the cancellation of a 40-odd flights on a single day, a number that eventually exceeded 80, triggering shock waves in business and consumer circles, the Business Standard reported today.

China’s banking regulator warned lenders that some projects backed by local governments may run out of funds, and loans to property developers are likely to sour as sales slow, a person with knowledge of the matter said, Bloomberg reported. The China Banking Regulatory Commission told lenders last week to step up asset sales and debt restructuring for unprofitable local government financing vehicles that are struggling to repay loans, the person said, declining to be identified as the instructions were private.

The Reserve Bank of India has warned of deep imbalances in the country’s banking system saying that capital is being allocated to a handful of elite industrialists but not to the broader, more dynamic economy. Such a constrained banking system in a large emerging market threatens to put a major drag on economic growth, according to the RBI and economists. It also poses a social threat in an economy that needs to create millions of jobs among a young population. K.C.