A couple look at electronic products displayed at Panasonic Center showroom in Tokyo September 26, 2008.

TOKYO, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Japan's electronics giant Panasonic Corp. said Wednesday it will consider cutting about 15,000 jobs worldwide by the end of March next year as part of the cost-saving measures to combat the global economic crisis.

Panasonic, formally Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., also said it will close down 13 domestic and 14 overseas production bases by the end of March this year.

The Osaka-based company expects a net loss of 380 billion yen (4.2 billion dollars) in the current fiscal year through March because of the ongoing global economic crisis, its first red ink in six years.

Panasonic reported Wednesday a net profit of 65.38 billion yen for its group business in the April-December period. The net profit for the first nine months of fiscal 2008 represents a 70 percent plunge from a year earlier.

The projected loss for the whole of fiscal 2008 is a sharp contrast with a record-high 310 billion yen profit the firm projected in April last year.