The government has been warned by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) that failure to implement agreed-upon incentives, lack of consistency in policies, and failure to address tax and banking-related issues could cause the telecom sector’s export remittances to further decline and jeopardize its digital vision.
According to official sources who spoke with sources, the most recent fall in remittances for IT and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) exports raised severe concerns.
In the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2022–23, ITeS exports decreased by 0.3 percent to $633 million from $635 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year.
According to data from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), ITeS export remittances decreased by over 10% month over month (MoM) in September 2022. The export remittances declined by more than 4% year over year (YoY).
According to sources, the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Information Technology (IT) and Telecom met under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, when grave concerns about the reduction in remittances were voiced.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), SBP, and teams from MoITT, Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), and Pakistan Software House Association (P@SHA) met under the chairmanship of SAPM for Youth Affairs Shaza Fatima in response to the Prime Minister’s instructions.
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