Pakistan’s IT Exports Continue Their Upward Trend in Q1 FY22

Pakistan’s exports of IT and IT-enabled services maintained an upward trajectory in the current financial years, with exports receipts surging to over $600 million in the first quarter of the financial year 2021-22. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the exports of IT and IT-enabled services increased to $635 million from July to September compared to the exports value of the last year, which stood at $445 million, showing a staggering increase in inflows in the tune of $190 million merely in one year, translating to a 42 percent year-on-year growth. The growth in exports value of the sector is evident that the number of local and multinational IT companies are delivering a good number of orders to the foreign clients in different countries. Measures of the government to support IT exports are reaping gradually its fruits. The impact of Rupee depreciation against the Dollar is also favorable for the export of the IT sector. Leading IT exporters have planned to boost up the exports of the IT sector above $250 million per month in order to close the financial year with over $3 billion in exports’ value. However, the current state of the exports receipts, which stood between $200 million to $225 million, is less than the potential of the local IT exporters. Stakeholders of the IT sectors are committed to boosting the exports of the country through the IT sector despite the challenges of ease of doing business, regulatory barriers, and the shortage of skilled human resources. They were of the view that the government should honor its promise of incentives to the IT sector within the shortest possible time in order to see the desirable contribution of the IT exporters to the country’s economy.