Freelancers permitted to receive up to $5,000 per month

KARACHI: Freelancers across Pakistan have cause to rejoice as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in a bid to raise remittances of at least $1.2 billion per year,increased their permitted payment limit to $5,000 per individual per month.

Previously, freelancers offering services in computer and information systems in addition to other services to clients abroad were bound to receive a maximum monthly sum of $1,500.

“The freelancers receive on an average $1.2 billion per year,” said Forex Association of Pakistan President Malik Bostan.

He added that the new cap of $5,000 is a straightforward threefold increase in freelance payments and will serve as an encouragement for a significant surge in the existing pool of around 300,000 freelancers in the industry. “However, speaking realistically, such remittances may easily be doubled to $2.5 billion per year sooner than later,” said Bostan.

Until only recently,freelancers have emphasised time and again that they struggled to bring foreign exchange to Pakistan due to the difficult and elaborate procedures for receiving their foreign payments, often prompting them to spend their earnings abroad.

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