Pakistan rolls out new measures to facilitate IT exporters and freelancers

ISLAMABAD: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced a series of reforms aimed at facilitating IT exporters and freelancers.

The SBP reforms are designed to simplify the export realization procedures, standardize documentation requirements, set transaction processing timelines, and strengthen complaint resolution mechanisms.

Under the new rules, IT companies and freelancers will no longer need to submit Form “R” for every individual export transaction. Instead, they will provide a one-time declaration outlining the nature of their services at the time of opening a new bank account, and in the case of existing customers, as and when required.

Banks will then assign the appropriate service and purpose codes to facilitate processing and reporting.

The SBP has also introduced a maximum turnaround time of one working day for handling inward export receipts and outward remittances from Exporters’ Special Foreign Currency Accounts (ESFCAs).

Documentation requirements for outward remittances from ESFCAs for acquiring services from abroad have been standardized to promote clarity and consistency across banks.

Moreover, the SBP has instructed banks to strengthen their internal systems for resolving complaints from IT firms and freelancers, with the goal of improving responsiveness and service quality.

The reforms also include the reporting requirements for exporters and importers of services, which have also been simplified through revisions in Form “R”, the Inward Remittance Voucher (IRV), and Form “M”.

The threshold level for obtaining Form “R” has been increased to above US$ 25,000 (or equivalent in other currencies), providing convenience to the beneficiaries. Additionally, banks have been advised to digitalize Form “R” and Form “M” with auto-population functionality for the customer’s basic data to further promote ease of doing business.

The SBP believes that these measures will significantly enhance operational efficiency and contribute meaningfully towards the growth of Pakistan’s IT exports.

The revised instructions are also available at the following links:

https://www.sbp.org.pk/epd/2026/FECL6.htm

https://www.sbp.org.pk/epd/2026/FECL7.htm