LAHORE, Oct 19: Jamaat-i-Islami Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed has said the economy of Pakistan will be destroyed if it is thrown into the clutches of International Monetary Fund (IMF) once again.

Mr Qazi condemned the statement of Advisor for Finance Shaukat Tareen that the government would approach the IMF for loan in case it was denied aid.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, he said that positive signals had been received from China during the tour of President Asif Ali Zardari that it was ready to assist Pakistan in every respect.

The government should avail the opportunity and free itself from US shackles with the help of China, he said.

The country was caught in a web of foreign loans in general and US trap in particular, he said and added that the US was interfering in every matter and the dollar-hungry rulers were following its political, economic and monetary policies.

The JI leader said that Pakistan had lost its independence and sovereignty as a result of growing US interference.

He said a part of the country had been turned into a battle field, adding that the war against terror had crippled the national economy.

Foreign investment had stopped and local and foreign investors were taking the capital out of Pakistan. He said Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had confessed that the power tariff was raised under the World Bank pressure.

Mr Qazi said the worst power loadshedding had crippled the industry on the one hand while the water shortage was playing havoc with the agriculture on the other.

It was high time for the rulers to realize the gravity of the situation and try to resolve the deepening economic crisis with the assistance of friendly countries like China, he said.

The rulers should also stop squandering national resources on their lavish lifestyle.

Welcoming Foreign Affairs Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s statement that President Asif Ali Zardari would visit China after every three months, he stressed the need for ensuring the implementation of the program as it would help improve the economic situation in Pakistan.