LAHORE, Jan 5: The Jamiat-i-Ulema Pakistan-Nifaz-i-Shariat (JUP-NS) would launch a countrywide movement for interest-free economy next month, the party president, Engineer Saleemullah Khan, announced at a press conference here on Sunday.

Mr Saleem said a meeting of 26 religious parties would be held in Lahore on Jan 20 for taking practical steps against interest. It would be followed by another meeting of 36 religious, political and social organizations in the city on Jan 27 .

Welcoming the NWFP Assembly resolution for ending the interest-based economy, he said he could not understand why the MMA had confined itself to adopting a resolution as its chief minister could have implemented the Islamic injunction in the province through a cabinet decision.

He said that there was no hurdle in introducing interest-free banking in the NWFP, as the State Bank had licensed a private bank for the purpose under a federal law while other banks in the country were also establishing branches for interest-free transactions.

He criticized the PML-N, the PML-Q, the PPP and the ANP for opposing the resolution in the NWFP Assembly.

He said that about 1.8 percent interest rate in the developed world proved that interest was no basis for a successful economy.

Holding the interest-based system responsible for the high unemployment rate in the country, he said there was no precedent in the world to prove that interest-based loans could revive the economy.

Criticizing the continuation of Shaukat Aziz as the finance minister, he alleged that he was an agent of the World Bank and the IMF and was responsible for implementing their agenda in Pakistan.