ASIA WATCH

* Indonesia’s Debt Rises: Three Asian nations in financial crises reduced their debt to U.S. banks over the summer and early fall, but Indonesia’s debt increased sharply, regulators said Wednesday. American commercial banks’ exposure to Indonesia, including loans and derivative transactions, jumped from $4.7 billion at the end of June to $6.8 billion at the end of September, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council said. But exposure to South Korea edged lower, from $20.1 billion to $19.9 billion. In regard to Thailand, it fell from $7 billion to $6.2 billion, and to the Philippines, from $3.3 billion to $2.7 billion. The figures released Wednesday report the debt status several months before the crises in Indonesia and South Korea became full-blown.

*

* A Fed Opinion on U.S. Effect: The U.S. economy continues to put in an extraordinary performance and the Asian crisis will probably have only a “modest” effect on worldwide growth in 1998, said Alfred Broaddus, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

*

* Lawmaker Warns Against Bailouts: The House of Representatives’ second-ranking Democrat said Wednesday that Congress should not support economic bailouts whose requirements would hurt workers or undermine democracy. “We cannot support a bailout that imposes an economic stranglehold on working people, tramples democratic rights, ignores the underlying causes of instability and then asks the American taxpayer to foot the bill,” Minority Whip David E. Bonior of Michigan told a news conference.

*

* More Airlines Cut Back: Qantas Airways Ltd. said it will suspend some flights between Australia and Southeast Asia as passenger numbers continue to tumble. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Hong Kong’s main carrier, plans to lay off abut 300 people in senior and middle management, the South China Morning Post reported.