KUWAIT CITY, Nov 21, (Agencies): Kuwaiti Finance Minister Fahd Al-Jarallah disclosed that local companies have contributed approximately 114 million dinars to the state budget over the past five years. The revelation came in response to a parliamentary inquiry by Representative Dr. Hamad Al-Matar concerning zakat and the financial support extended by public and closed joint-stock companies to the state budget. This is in accordance with Article 1 of Law No. 64/2006, which mandates the collection of 1 percent of companies' net profits for zakat and public services.

Al-Jarallah clarified that the total collected amount from companies over the five-year period reached around 155 million dinars. The yearly breakdown includes 31.5 million in 2018-2019, 29.2 million in 2019-2020, 37.8 million in 2020-2021, 21.9 million in 2021-2022, and 34.8 million in 2022-2023. He emphasized that the Ministry of Finance channels the collected funds into the state budget, with the allocation to Zakat Law or public services being based on the companies' preferences during payment.

He provided a detailed breakdown of the contributions to public services from the total collected amounts:

• 2018-2019: 24.3 million dinars.
• 2019 - 2020: 19.5 million dinars.
• 2020 - 2021: 26.6 million dinars.
• 2021-2022: 17.3 million dinars.
• 2022-2023: 26.1 million dinars.