DOHA - The state-run Zakat Fund has said it has assisted 26 companies listed on the Doha Securities Market (DSM) in calculating the yearly zakat levy due on their stocks.
At least 32 private firms have also sought the Fund's help in calculating the annual zakat they were supposed to set aside from their surplus earnings.
The Fund said in a brochure released on the sidelines of a conference of senior Zakat Fund officials from GCC countries that its income had risen 6.1 per cent in 2006-07 to QR71.47m.
The two-day conference began here yesterday to discuss ways to increase public awareness about zakat in the entire region and the role of the media in its campaign.
Qatar is being represented at the convention by Jassem bin Mohamed Al Kubaisi, head of Qatar's Zakat Fund.
Zakat collection (by the Qatari Zakat Fund) accounted for 80 per cent of its revenues collected through eight of its offices this year, said the brochure.
According to the Fund, some 1,945 'poverty cases' are among 2,143 beneficiaries who are being provided permanent assistance and the aid being given to them is mostly in cash. Foodstuff is also provided.
Some 408 of the large number of school and university students the Fund assists on a regular basis are from prestigious Independent Schools.
The Fund's surplus has soared to QR62.83m, showing an increase of 23.5 per cent over the previous year, thanks to the increasing income of people.
© The Peninsula 2007
