ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) has said that the budget 2024-25 will only increase the brain drain from the country, especially in the IT sector, due to high taxation in this sector, which will eventually restrict growth and innovation.

P@SHA Chairman Muhammad Zohaib Khan has said that the government has completely overlooked the IT industry’s budgetary proposals despite repeated assurances.

“On the contrary, the salaried class is now burdened with even higher income tax, which will further fuel the brain drain of the skilled workforce from the IT industry of Pakistan,” he said in a statement.

He added that the Rs79 billion allocated in the budget was primarily for the government’s own projects and IT parks, but the IT industry as a whole or any encouraging decisions related to IT companies have been neglected.

He added that the situation was already alarming vis-à-vis taxes and human resource availability, and P@SHA has, time and again, duly presented the facts and relevant proposals to the government.

“The government has signed a death warrant of the IT industry through this budget, which has been drafted in a vacuum without keeping the stakeholders board,” the P@SHA chief lambasted.

The government should have been aware that the last saviour of Pakistan’s economy is the IT industry, which has huge potential for exports, employment generation, and even foreign direct investment (FDI).

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2024