HUA HIN (Thailand) - THE global economy has likely bottomed out but employment conditions are 'dire' and stimulus is needed across Asia to spur domestic demand, Japan's prime minister said.

'Prime Minister Hatoyama mentioned that at the moment the global economy is showing signs of recovery, mainly in Asia,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Kazuo Kodama quoted Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama as telling Asian leaders gathered for a summit meeting in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin on Sunday.

TOKYO - AILING Japan Airlines will restructure itself under a state-backed corporate turnaround firm while the government mulls a special law to cut the carrier's high pension payouts, reports said on Sunday.

The Japanese government, which will announce a turnaround plan for JAL by the end of this week, will also consider an injection of public funds after the plan is finalised, the Nikkei business daily reported without citing sources.

BEIJING - CHINA will maintain a weak yuan until its export sector has recovered from the global crisis, prioritising concerns at home despite growing pressure from its major trading partners, analysts say.

The United States and European Union have been pushing China to let the yuan fluctuate, but their calls have so far fallen on deaf ears as Beijing is focused on creating enough jobs to avert social unrest, they said.