 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, second left. AFP photo
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The global economic order needs “radical change,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday, calling for Islamic principles to replace capitalist values.
“The present economic crisis is due to the capitalist system. The world needs radical change,” Ahmadinejad told a one-day economic summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, or OIC.
Describing interest rates as the “biggest and most fundamental problem of the capitalist system,” Ahmadinejad said economic programs based on Islamic principles offered the way out.
“The world is looking for fairer values that we cannot find in the capitalist system. The world system based on usury has collapsed, proving its failure,” he said through a translator.
“We have to draw up programs based on Islamic economic thinkers. That way we can guide people to happiness, security, justice and honesty. This is the most correct way to salvation,” he added.
Ahmadinejad urged member countries to agree to carrying out trade in their national currencies and setting up a common market.
“By announcing the type of money to be used between member countries, we will be saved from the adverse effects of global capitalism,” Ahmadinejad added.
