KARACHI: Despite firewall problems and internet outages, Pakistan’s IT exports increased 35% to $1.21 billion between July and October of 2024–2025.
According to Nasheed Malik of Topline Securities, the expansion of the clientele of IT export firms worldwide, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the relaxation of the allowable retention limit in the Exporters’ Specialized Foreign Currency Accounts, which was raised from 35 percent to 50 percent, and the stability of exchange rates all encouraged IT exporters to repatriate a larger percentage of their profits to Pakistan.
In October, IT exports reached $330 million, up 39 percent year-over-year and 13 percent month-over-month.
October 2024’s monthly IT exports are more than the $287 million 12-month average. According to him, since October 2023, this month has seen a YoY increase in IT exports for 13 consecutive months.
According to him, the MoM’s growth in IT exports is because October has more working days (23) than September (20). In October 2024, export earnings per day were $14.3 million, up from $14.6 million in September 2024.
Pakistani IT firms are actively interacting with customers around the world. Leading IT businesses recently visited the Pak-US Tech Investment Conference and Oslo Innovation Week 2024, he added.
A survey by the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) found that 62% of IT firms keep specialized foreign exchange accounts.
SBP’s introduction of a new Equity Investment Abroad (EIA) category, tailored to export-oriented IT firms, was a significant step in FY25, according to Nasheed. IT exporters can now use up to 50% of the profits from specialized foreign currency accounts to purchase interest (shareholding) in overseas companies.
