World Forum Discusses Islamic Economics, Indonesian Academic Promotes Debt-Free State Finance

Reliance on debt is not considered the only way to finance development. Representatives of Indonesian academics are offering an Islamic economic model that emphasises the optimisation of productive assets, zakat, waqf, and community participation as alternatives to strengthen state finances without burdening future generations.

This idea was presented by Dr Any Setianingrum from YARSI University in a paper titled ‘Redistribution as Governance: An Islamic Framework for Sustainable Public Treasury’, presented at the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) 2026 conference in France. In her paper, Any offers a public finance architecture based on redistribution that does not depend on debt and optimises domestic resources to support development.

According to Any, one of the keys to this model is ensuring that wealth continues to circulate within society through fair redistribution mechanisms, rather than being concentrated only within certain groups.

“This redistribution is not merely a charitable or social activity. Instead, this redistribution must become a primary indicator of governance within a country or any institution,” Any told Republika on Monday (26/06/2026).

She explained that redistribution should not be understood simply as social assistance, but as part of economic governance that encourages the equitable distribution of development benefits. Through this approach, the state can optimise productive assets, zakat, and waqf as sources of financing, thereby reducing dependence on debt.

Any also believes that Islamic economic values must be realised in government governance, the business world, and financial institutions through transparency, accountability, and the minimisation of conflicts of interest. According to her, financial institutions also need to ensure fairer financing, including providing adequate space for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

“When we speak of Islamic economics, we are actually speaking to a global society. Islamic values are universal,” she said.

In addition to offering a more sustainable financing model, Any also proposed the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen the transparency of economic governance. AI is considered capable of helping to detect conflicts of interest, irregularities, and corruption, so that the implementation of moral principles in economics can proceed more effectively.

The SASE conference is an international scientific forum that brings together academics from over 50 countries. In this year’s session, only about 45 per cent of papers passed the selection process for presentation. Participating Indonesian universities included YARSI University, the University of Indonesia, Gadjah Mada University, and the Bandung Institute of Technology.