Freelancers' remittances reach $350.2m in July-March FY2024: Survey

June 12, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan-based freelancers contributed foreign exchange earnings to Pakistan’s economy through remittances of $350.2 million during July-March FY2024, as highlighted in the Pakistan Economic Report FY24 published on Tuesday.

The IT & Telecom sector, hailed as the potential savior for Pakistan due to its immense export potential, has delivered impressive results.

ICT export receipts surged by $339 million (17.4%) to $2.283bn during FY2024, against $1,944bn last year.

Accordingly, IT & ITeS realized a trade surplus of $1.996bn, the highest in all Services (87.4% of total ICT exports during JulyMarch FY2024 (15.8%) against $1.723bn last year.

On a positive note, later in the fiscal year, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) eased its rules to a 50% retention policy for freelancers.

Under this system, 50% of the earnings are converted into Pakistani Rupees (PKR), while the remaining half is retained in U.S. Dollars.

This development comes as a huge relief for IT experts, who previously lacked authorized payment gateways and helped surged inflows of Dollars through this sector.

Further upgrades came to the sector after the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) launched the first-ever women’s software technology park at the Women’s University of Bagh AJK in February 2024.

Progress was also noted in the incubation of startups as the National Incubation Centers (NICs) incubated over 1,480+ startups, with more than 710+ graduating successfully till March 2024.

These startups generated over 128,000 jobs, and received a total investment of more than Rs23 billion, with a combined revenue of more than Rs16bn.

Over 2,800+ women entrepreneurs were also empowered through the program.

During July-March FY2024, the telecom sector showed resilience, expanding its services and generating telecom revenues to the tune of Rs 735 billion (estimated).

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