Soros says U.S. needs billions more in aid measures

BERLIN (Reuters) - The U.S. economy needs additional support measures of between $300 billion and $600 billion to help it withstand the financial crisis, U.S. billionaire investor George Soros was quoted as saying by a German weekly.

Soros, one of the world's first and best-known hedge fund managers, told Der Spiegel magazine the United States needed an infrastructure programme, as well as a large economic stimulus package to provide its cities and states with sufficient cash.

"It has exceeded my most daring expectations," Soros told Spiegel weekly in an advance copy of an interview due to be published on Monday.

He was referring to the scale of the international financial crisis.

The U.S. government has launched a $700-billion financial bailout initiative in response to the turmoil.

But Soros criticized U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for having reacted too late to the crisis.

"He only reacted to the problems after they emerged. He did not have the ability to see these problems coming," Soros said, adding Paulson had been "totally unprepared" for the bankruptcy of investment bank Lehman Brothers.

Soros said he had high expectations of the ability of President-elect Barack Obama to take appropriate measures.

"The duration of the crisis depends on the success of his policies," Soros said, according to Der Spiegel. "I have high hopes on Obama."

(Reporting by Kerstin Gehmlich, Editing by Peter Blackburn)