Japanese authorities have thrown a lifeline to the crisis-struck Japan Airlines (JAL), the largest carrier in Asia, by doubling a state-sponsored credit line to £1.33 billion, The Guardian reported. The government in Tokyo asked the Development Bank of Japan to double its existing 100 billion yen (£665 million) commitment facility to JAL today after ministers – including Seiji Maehara, transport minister, and Naoto Kan, deputy prime minister – met for crisis talks to discuss how Tokyo could further support the troubled carrier.

The Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) has agreed to increase the amount of its unsecured loans to Japan Airlines, which is under threat of bankruptcy, from 100 billion yen ($1.08 billion) currently, Japanese media reported on Thursday. Executives of the state-owned DBJ, Transport Minister Seiji Maehara and National Strategy Minister Naoto Kan met on Thursday to agree to raise the amount of loans as JAL has already used 55 billion yen of a 100 billion yen credit line recently extended by DBJ, Jiji news agency said.

Several cabinet members of the Japanese government want Japan Airlines Corp to withdraw completely from its international flights business and consolidate it with that of All Nippon Airways Co, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported on Thursday, Reuters reported. The cabinet members met on Wednesday and appeared to have floated the idea in order to improve JAL's financial condition, Mainichi reported, without citing any sources. But Transport Minister Seiji Maehara was opposed to the plan of having only one international flight service airline from Japan, the newspaper said.

Some hedge funds are starting to wager on painful times ahead for Japan, the world's second-largest economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. These investors, including some who made successful bets against risky mortgages and financial companies in recent years, anticipate trouble for Japan's financial system. Their concern: Government borrowing continues to climb while demand for the nation's debt could taper off.

Aiful Corp.'s debt restructuring is a credit event and has triggered an auction of the credit default swaps written on the Japanese consumer credit firm's debt, a committee of dealers and investors ruled Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Japan Determination Committee of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, or ISDA, determined that a "restructuring credit event" had occurred, according to ISDA's Web site.

Shares in Japan Airlines plunged to a record low today amid rumours that Asia's biggest carrier could file for bankruptcy in an attempt to turn around its failing business, the Guardian reported. The transport minister, Seiji Maehara, and other cabinet ministers were this evening holding crisis talks to discuss JAL's options ahead of an official decision on the airline's future late next month.

Bankruptcy has been proposed by a state-backed fund as an option in the restructuring of Japan Airlines Corp., two sources familiar with the matter said, Reuters reported. The state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp of Japan (ETIC) has been holding talks with creditor banks on how to revive JAL, and is expected to make a final decision on whether to support the struggling carrier next month.

Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is said to be under “immense pressure” not to pursue cases of wilful default of bank loans because some leaders of opposition parties and a number of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stalwarts were among defaulters, sources told Dawn on Sunday. They alleged that the NAB had put off a meeting scheduled for Wednesday to review default cases because of “government pressure”. Top NAB officials may meet later this week to decide how to deal with the cases of wilful default in the light of new government instructions.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao warned of growing inflation expectations in a rare domestic media interview, expressing concerns about the nation's fast-rising real-estate prices and acknowledging that Beijing may be paying a price for its aggressive response to the global financial crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported. Speaking to the state-run Xinhua news agency on Sunday, Mr. Wen also flatly rejected foreign criticism of China's exchange-rate policy, saying that stability in the yuan's value helps the global economy and that China won't bow to pressure to let it appreciate.

Aiful Corp. rose in Tokyo, adding to last week’s 35 percent gain, after Japan’s third-largest consumer lender reached an agreement with creditors that will help it avoid bankruptcy, BusinessWeek reported on a Bloomberg story. The Kyoto-based lender, which said Dec. 24 that creditors approved a plan to delay repayments on 279.1 billion yen ($3.05 billion) of debt, rose as much as 3.6 percent to 144 yen and traded at 140 yen at the 11 a.m. break in Tokyo. Aiful met 65 creditors in Tokyo last week and won approval to resume repaying its loans from Sept.