ISLAMABAD: Services exports grew by 6.51 percent to $675.69 million in November 2024, up from $634.39 million in the corresponding month last year.
Growth has returned since February 2024 thanks to a steady increase in information technology exports, except in August, which saw a 6.5 percent contraction.
In rupee terms, exports improved by 3.63 per cent to Rs 187,713 crore in November as against Rs 181,131 crore in FY24, according to statistics released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Friday. In the first five months, services exports rose 7.58 percent to $3.27 billion, up from $3.04 billion in the corresponding months last year.
In FY24, services exports registered a paltry growth of 2.77 per cent to $7.8 billion from $7.59 billion in the previous year.
Pakistan emerged as the second largest country of freelancers in the world last year and IT products and services were exported to 170 countries.
A new framework has been introduced for self-employed workers to make it even easier to open their bank accounts and allow higher amounts to be held in their foreign currency accounts.
The government has an export target of $15 billion for IT exports in the next five years.
The State Bank of Pakistan has increased the withholding limit allowed in specialized foreign currency accounts of exporters from 35 percent to 50 percent. This fact has motivated IT exporters to return profits to Pakistan, significantly increasing the total number of exports.
Exchange rate stability incentivized IT companies to engage in commercial activities and repatriate their profits.
At the same time, imports of services increased 4.60% year-on-year to $828.56 million in November. From July to November FY25, import of services recorded an increase of 2.88 percent to $4.43 billion, up from $4.3 billion in the corresponding months last year.
Import of services increased by 17.14% to $10,119 million in FY24, up from $8,638 million in the corresponding period last year.
The services trade deficit slowed by 8.48% to $1.15 billion in July-November FY25, compared to $1.25 billion in the corresponding period last year.
In November, the services trade deficit increased 3.10% to $152.87 million, up from $157.76 million last year.
Published in Amanecer, January 4, 2025.
