Towards A Unified Zakat System

The Omani economy mainly depends on its oil and miningsectors. Although oil's share of GDP declined from 6percent in 1990 to 4 percent in 1996(IMF Statistics, 1997).Although exports of crude oil are the main source ofgovernment revenue, Oman is one of the smallest oilproducers in the Gulf (MOI, 1998).Seventy percent of Omanis rely on agriculture for theirlivelihood, although mostly at a subsistence level. The lackof sufficient water resources are the greatest constraint tothe development of Oman's agricultural potential (Bakri, etal, 1998). Oman has very limited industrial activity, owingto the small domestic market and the lack of trained Omanimanpower. The sector has grown rapidly, however, and,according to the bulletin published by the Gulf Co-operationCouncil in 1997, it expanded at an average annual rate ofnearly 44 percent in real terms between 1990 and 1993. In1996, its contribution to GDP at constant prices reached 4.8percent. There were 2,334 registered companies in thecountry in 1996(IMF Statistics, 1997). The value of importsincreased by 63 percent to US$11,342.13 million in 1996. Thelargest single category of imports (39 percent of totalvalue) continued to be machinery and transport equipment, of33