Islamabad: In a substantial boost to the economy, Pakistan’s ICT exports remittances soared to US$286 million in July, the first month of the fiscal year 2024-25, marking a significant increase from the previous year.

According to Press Information Department, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, reported a 33.64% increase over the US$214 million recorded in July of the prior fiscal year. The minister highlighted the government’s commitment to enhancing IT exports, crediting the Prime Minister’s focus on the IT sector’s development. Under the directives of the Prime Minister and with support from the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, and Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), initiatives are underway to boost the nation’s IT exports further.

The ICT sector not only achieved a trade surplus of US$252 million in July 2024, which is the highest in all services accounting for 88% of total ICT export remittances, but also represented a 32.63% increase from the US$190 million surplus recorded in July 2023. Despite the overall services sector facing a trade deficit of US$159 million, the ICT exports accounted for 46% of the total exports of services, leading significantly over other business services which stood at US$128 million.