Asia's largest airline is set to receive help from the Japanese government due to losses attributed to the global economic downturn.

Japan Airlines (JAL) is to get a $1bn emergency fund, an official from the Development Bank of Japan (DJB) told Reuters news agency.

Kaoru Yosano, Japan's finance minister, said on Monday that he received a request by Kazuyoshi Kaneko, the transport minister, in charge of overseeing airlines, for the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) to extend loans to JAL.

"The DBJ will extend loans, not unconditionally, but on the premise that [the airline] must do its best to improve management," Yosano told reporters in Tokyo.

Kaneko also told a separate news conference that JAL was "an extremely important company for our country's economy, society and people".

JAL has previously sought to borrow about $2bn under a government programme of low-interest financing for cash-starved companies amid the global financial crisis, reports have said.