Pakistan's IT exports surge 39% in October to $330 million

Pakistan's IT exports jumped 39% to $330 million in October compared to the same month last year, official data showed on Monday.

This is higher than the 12-month average of $287 million and marks the 13th consecutive month of year-on-year growth since October 2023.

In the first four months of the current fiscal year, IT exports reached $1.21 billion, up 35% from the same period last year.

Analysts credit the increase to a growing client base, especially in the Gulf region, relaxed retention limits by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) — which increased from 35% to 50% in Exporters’ Specialized Foreign Currency Accounts — and stability in the Pakistani Rupee (PKR), which has encouraged IT exporters to bring more profits back to Pakistan.

Pakistani IT companies are actively engaging with global clients, recently attending events like Oslo Innovation Week 2024 and the Pak-US Tech Investment Conference. According to a survey by the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), 62% of IT companies maintain specialized foreign currency accounts.

A significant development in the current fiscal year was the SBP introducing a new category of Equity Investment Abroad (EIA) for export-oriented IT companies. This allows IT exporters to acquire interest (shareholding) in foreign entities using up to 50% of proceeds from specialized foreign currency accounts, further boosting their confidence to remit proceeds back to Pakistan.

Analysts expect the IT sector to continue growing, with a projected increase of 10-15% for this fiscal year, reaching $3.5-3.7 billion.