MEXICO CITY (AFP) — Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, one of the world's richest men, said Tuesday that China should lead rescue efforts for the US financial crisis, and that worldwide stock markets needed better rules.
"China is now the most important country to help responsibly in this crisis," Slim told journalists at a meeting in Mexico City.
"China has great liquidity, large resources, surpluses in its current accounts and a lot of capital flow," he said.
"There is a systematic crisis in the whole financial system and the problem is that everything is interconnected."
Slim, who has said the current crisis is the worst since the 1929 Wall Street crash, called for improved rules for world financial markets.
"Not more rules but better ones, not more regulation but better regulation," said Slim, whose fortune is estimated at 60 billion dollars according to Forbes.
The billionaire, whose activities represent around six percent of Mexico's gross domestic product, also said that Latin American and other developing countries could help the United States through the crisis.
"In the past, developed countries had reserves and financed developing countries, while today developed countries, especially the United States, are being financed with resources from developing countries," he said.
The son of a Lebanese immigrant, Slim made his first fortune in 1990 when he bought fixed line operator Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex) in a privatization deal.
His company America Movil struck a deal in December with Web giant Yahoo to provide mobile Web services to 16 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Slim declined to say which US candidate he believed would be better as president for Mexico and Latin America, but said the best would be "the one who most quickly restores the US economy."
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
