Quratulain Y Azher
Karachi, April 26, 2020: Pakistan’s IT sector showed tremendous performance in the current financial year as it exports surged to over $1 billion by the end of three quarters of financial year 2019-120.
According to the data released by State Bank of Pakistan, the exports of IT services and IT-enabled services increased to stand at $1.052 billion during the period of July to March in FY20 as compared to the export’s value of $879 million recorded in the similar period of last financial year, showing a year-on-year growth of 20 percent or $173 million.
The export values are likely to increase further in the months to come of the current financial year however the inflows of remittances are not likely to be the same due to the global situation of business and economy. Surprisingly, IT sector could set another record of all-time high by the end of the financial year.
Pakistan’s IT exports recorded an all-time high record last year to reach $1.19 billion in FY19.
Exports of IT services are largely concentrated to computer and telecommunication services, which saw consistent growth in the global market amid competition with countries such as India and Philippine.
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The penetration in the global markets by Pakistani IT companies and software houses reflected the growth in export value. Besides, the depreciation of Rupee against Dollar also contributed to the growth in values.
During the period of July to March, the exports of computer services stand at $811 million which included software and hardware consultancy, software, and application development. Telecommunication services contributed to exports of $240 million which included revenues earned by call centers and telecom related firms.
Pakistan export over 50 percent of its IT and IT-enabled services to the USA. EU countries are its second major export market which is followed by the Middle East and African countries.
The present situation for IT companies engaged in exports is extremely challenging due to Covid-19 outbreak which apparently paralyzed the economic activities across the world. The drop in exports of services by IT sector will impact adversely on services’ exports and its share in the current account of the country.
