What do you believe is the single most important factor driving up the cost of living in Nigeria?

A Letter of Credit is a mode of payment used for the importation of visible goods.

It is a written undertaking given by s bank (issuing bank) at the request of its customer in which the bank promises in writing to pay the exporter a certain sum within a certain time frame in return for goods, as long as the customer provides the bank with the proper paperwork.

In the period under review, the country’s LCs payment shed about $520.44m, which some analysts have blamed on factors like the exit of multinationals, skyrocketing customs duties, and the unstable foreign exchange, which hampered Nigeria’s foreign trade in the period under review.

An analysis of the CBN data showed that the highest LC payments this year were recorded in February at $102.59m, followed by July at $79.65m and $58.33m in January.

In March, LCs payments stood at $43.53m compared to $269m in the same month in 2023, rose to $54.02m in April 2024 and dropped to $21.48m in May before rising to $32.26m in June.

• Read More