PayPal: IT Minister Announces Good News for Pakistani Freelancers

The prolonged demand of freelancers has been addressed by the government, allowing them to route remittances through the international gateway — PayPal. Caretaker Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Dr. Umar Saif, shared this development with journalists.

The minister disclosed that the ministry is poised to unveil various digital initiatives next week, including the facilitation of remittances through PayPal to position Pakistan as a ‘Tech Destination.’ Presently, there is a lack of financial instruments to streamline payments.

Also Read: IT Minister Hints At Positive News About PayPal And Stripe

Clarifying further, the minister stated that while PayPal is not directly entering Pakistan, an agreement has been established to route remittances from PayPal through a third party. The formal launch ceremony is scheduled for January 11.

Highlighting government initiatives to boost IT and telecom sector exports, the minister mentioned that the sector’s official export is currently $2.6 billion. However, the actual figure stands around $5 billion, as a significant portion is kept abroad by the industry to cover international employee salaries and monthly expenses for cloud hosting, marketing, and sales on platforms like Google, Amazon, LinkedIn, etc.

“We collaborated with the SIFC and the State Bank to implement a substantial policy change, allowing IT companies to retain 50 percent of their export revenue in dollars in a Pakistani account. This enables them to cover international expenses without restrictions,” said the minister. He added that IT companies are repatriating their dollars, leading to a 13 percent increase in export revenue within a month.