Breaking the Trap of Debt, Inflation, Interest and Poverty

The modern banking system grants private banks the extraordinary power to create money which causes debt-fueling inflation, widening inequality and triggering recurring financial crises. As debt expands and prices rise, ordinary citizens struggle while asset owners grow wealthier. What appears to be financial progress conceals a profound structural imbalance. This book exposes the deep flaws of the current system and advocates full-reserve banking as a compelling alternative – ending private money creation, safeguarding the value of money and restoring stability to the economy. Consistent with Islamic principles that reject debt-driven money expansion and uphold fairness, the book offers a credible solution to Pakistan’s chronic economic problems.

Author: Qanit Khalilullah, Sohaib Umar
Publisher: Institute of Policy Studies (Islamabad)
Pages: 204
Binding: Softcover
Size: 14x22x1 cm

Qanit Khalilullah is a chartered accountant and senior finance professional with over three decades of experience in finance, taxation, and corporate governance. He has held senior leadership positions, including head of internal audit at Unilever Pakistan and executive vice president at Ufone and PTCL. He trained with A.F. Ferguson & Co. (PwC) and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and of England & Wales. Qanit is a frequent speaker on economics, finance, and fiscal and monetary policy reforms, and a leading advocate of a Zakat-based, interest-free economic system aimed at addressing debt, inflation, poverty, and unemployment.

Sohaib Umar is a senior Islamic finance professional with 30+ years of diverse experience in central banking, advisory, venture capital, and capital markets. As advisor to the Central Bank of Bahrain on Islamic finance, he played an important role in shaping Islamic finance regulations and strategy in Bahrain from 2014 to 2026. Previously, he worked as an executive manager at Ernst & Young Bahrain in their global center of excellence in Islamic finance advisory. Sohaib has an MBA in finance and is also a CFA. He served for three consecutive terms on the Governance & Ethics Board of AAOIFI, the leading global standard-setting body for the Islamic finance industry.