Karachi June 7 2023: State Bank of Pakistan extented the orders of Authorized Dealers to mandatorily credit 35% of the exports proceeds into these exporters’ special foreign currency account up to June 30, 2024.
Earlier in January, in order to encourage IT companies and Freelancers to bring their foreign exchange earnings into the country, ADs were advised to mandatorily credit 35% of the exports proceeds into these exporters’ special foreign currency account, in terms of above referred paras. The exporters should be registered with Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) or Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), and involved in the export of Software, Information Technology (IT) services, IT Enabled Services (ITeS). However, these instructions are valid until March 31, 2023. These instructions will be reviewed in the light of incremental export performance by IT sector and realization of export proceeds thereof during this period.
ADs are advised to facilitate these exporters in opening their exporters’ special FCY accounts and for carrying out remittances transaction from their Exporters’ Special FCY retention accounts by: (i) issuing corporate debit cards, and (ii) providing digital platforms including FX digital portal, after necessary due diligence and establishing mechanism for ongoing monitoring of permissible payments abroad to meet their business requirements.
During the period from July 2022 to April 2023 the Information Technology exports of Pakistan decreased by 3 percent to USD 2.13 billion when compared with exports of USD 2.19 billion during the corresponding period last year.