Pakistan central bank has exempted information technology (IT) companies and freelancers from declaring the receipt of export proceeds of up to $25,000, softening the services export reporting rules with an aim to accelerate growth of the country’s IT exports, according to a notification issued on Monday.
Besides, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has continued to allow the IT firms and freelancers retain $5,000 per month or 50% of their export proceeds, whichever is higher, in their Exporters’ Special Foreign Currency Accounts (ESFCAs), according to a separate notification.
“The thresholds of Form “R” and IRV [Inward Remittance Voucher] have also been revised to $25,000 (equivalent in other currencies),” SBP said in notification.
“Earlier, the reporting threshold was set at above $10,000,” Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP) President Zafar Paracha told media.
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The central bank has, however, revised reporting requirements for commercial banks, mandating them to provide more detailed information – on behalf of IT companies and freelancers – regarding the purpose of their overseas payments.
“Authorized dealers [banks] are advised to use these [Form ‘R’ for reporting inward remittances of above $25,000 and Form ‘M’ for outward remittances] revised formats with immediate effect for capturing the details of applicable inward and outward remittance transactions,” the central bank notification reads.
The IT firms and freelancers are allowed to utilise the retained funds for the purposes, including import of goods, advance payments for imports, payment for foreign consultancy, software/IT services subscriptions, and freelancers of companies paying overseas vendors, it was learnt.
“The funds available in the ESFCAs may be converted into PKR [Pakistani currency/rupee] at any time upon the request of the customer. However, these funds cannot be credited/transferred to any other FCY [foreign currency] account(s),” the central bank said.
SBP press statement reads banks have been advised to digitalise Form “R” and Form “M” with auto-population functionality for the customer’s basic data to further promote ease of doing business. “SBP believes that these measures will significantly enhance operational efficiency and contribute meaningfully towards the growth of Pakistan’s IT exports.”
Paracha further said the ease in regulations for the reporting would fast track the receipt of the export proceeds in the country, encourage the exporters to bring more foreign exchange in the country, and help boosting IT exports.
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It may be noted that Pakistan’s IT exports maintained a declining trend, with receipts decreasing to $365 million in February 2026, according to SBP data. The inflows of IT sector receipts had stood at $374 million in January 2026, down from $437 million in December 2025.
Inflows of IT and IT-enabled services stood at $2.97 billion during the period of July to February.
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