KARACHI: Despite internet disruptions and firewall issues, Pakistan’s IT exports rose 35 per cent to $1.21bn during July-October 2024-25. Nasheed Malik of Topline Securities said exports have risen due to IT export companies’ growing client base globally, especially in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, relaxation in the permissible retention limit increasing it from 35pc to 50pc in the Exporters’ Specialised Foreign Curr­ency Accounts, and exch­ange rate stability encouraged IT exporters to bring a higher portion of profits back to Pakistan. IT exports surged 39pc year-on-year and 13pc month-on-month to $330m in October. These monthly IT exports in October 2024 are higher than last 12-month average of $287mn. This is the 13th consecutive month of YoY IT export growth, starting from October 2023, he said. He said the MoM increase in IT exports is due to a higher number of working days in October (23) compared to September (20). Export proceeds per day were recorded at $14.3mn for October 2024 versus $14.6mn in September 2024. Pakistani IT companies are actively engaged with global clients. He added that leading IT companies recently attended Oslo Innovation Week 2024 and the Pak-US Tech Invest­ment Conference. According to a Pakistan Software Houses Asso­ciation (P@SHA) survey, 62pc of IT companies maintain specialised foreign currency accounts. Nasheed said a major development in FY25 was SBP adding a new category of Equity Investment Abroad (EIA), specifically for export-oriented IT companies. IT exporters can now acquire interest (shareholding) in entities abroad utilising up to 50pc proceeds from specialised foreign currency accounts.