Pakistan’s IT exports surge 41pc to record $332 million in May

KARACHI: Pakistan’s information technology (IT) exports climbed 41 per cent year-on-year to a record $332 million in May, largely driven by relaxation in foreign currency retention limits.

This marks the highest level of technology exports in a single month, according to Arif Habib Limited, a brokerage house, which cited data from the State Bank of Pakistan. These exports increased by 7.0 per cent month-on-month and accounted for 48 per cent of the overall services.

IT exports increased by 23 per cent to $2.925 billion in the first 11 months (July-May) of the current fiscal year.Analysts said the higher retention facility of 50 per cent was introduced by the caretaker government of Pakistan.

At that time, the caretaker IT minister had stated that this facility would boost IT exports by $1 billion on top of the $2.6 billion recorded in FY23.

However, this target of $3.5-3.6 billion is not likely to be achieved in FY24 with IT exports set to close in the range of $3.1-3.2 billion.The Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, along with the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) in close coordination with the Special Investment

Facilitation Council (SIFC), has been instrumental in driving accelerated international business development and improving the ease of doing business environment.