The upward trend in ICT exports is a good sign for the economy is stagnation. The country’s IT sector exports have grown consecutively over the past three months on a month-on-month basis touching $259 million for the month of November 2023. This monthly tally is also higher than the average of the last 12 months that comes to around $220 million monthly. The month-on-month growth in ICT exports stood at around 9 percent for November 2023, while the year-on-year growth was 11 percent for the month. As per the data by the State Bank of Pakistan, the ICT export for the five months ended Nov-23 (5MFY24) witnessed a growth of 6 percent year-on-year.
Segment-wise, the growth on a month-on-month basis in November 2023 was led by Computer Services, and primarily computer software and other services. The segment witnessed a growth of 14 percent month-on-month. Computer Services have the highest share in total IT export value.
The other major segment – Telecommunication services - saw its exports coming down by 10.8 percent month-on-month. The export mix of Telecom versus Computer Services was down to 17 percent versus 83 percent respectively in Nov-23, from 24 percent/76 percent in Nov-22.
The growth in the tech sector exports was also witnessed on a year-on-year basis, which stood at 22 percent for November 2023. IT export in the country picked up during the period primarily due to the relatively stable currency and the relaxation in the permissible retention limit in the foreign currency accounts for the exporters’ Specialized Foreign Currency Accounts, by the SBP from 35 percent to 50 percent.
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