Pakistan’s IT Exports Decline by 3% in 10 Months of FY23

Pakistan’s IT and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) export remittances declined by 3 percent during the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23) and stood at $2.133 billion compared to $2.199 billion during the same period of last fiscal year According to the official data, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the sector’s exports remittances decreased by around 23 percent and remained at $191 million in April 2023 compared to $249 million in April 2022. On a month-on-month basis, the sector’s export remittances decreased by 15 percent compared to $224 million in March 2023 The IT and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) export remittances, including telecommunication, computer, and information services, reached an all-time high of $2.618 billion, a growth rate of 47.43 percent in fiscal year 2022 compared to $2.108 billion in fiscal year 2021. The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication had envisaged that the IT exports target of $5 billion would be achieved by June 2023. However, it had also warned the government that on account of the non-implementation of agreed incentives, lack of consistency in policies, as well as, without resolving the tax and banks-related issues, the telecom sector exports remittances may suffer besides compromising its digital vision. The National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication was informed recently that Pakistan’s IT exports are over $5 billion but exports of just $2.5 billion are documented.