Nigeria’s statutory body for the control, supervision and regulation of credit management profession, the National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA), has said that individuals, as well as businesses, should brace up for a new economic dimension in the country.

Chief Executive Officer of NICA, Prof. Chris Onalo, in a statement, said the economy would develop faster, as productivity will be increased.

He said the the emergency of cottage industries, informal and below informal sectors, as well as small and medium enterprises, would combine to define Nigeria’s new economic order.

Onalo, who advocated a new economic dimension that would promote credit availability to individuals and businesses to increase capacity for productivity in the economy, said: “In the new economic dimension, businesses should be driven strictly on credit. The new dispensation should promote buying and consumption that is strictly credit driven. With credit availability, there will be an increase in production because the capacity to produce in large quantities will be boosted as the producers will have access to credit to expand their operations through a well-funded guarantee arrangement that will play the midwife role.

“The new dispensation would enable access to credit from banks, as lending institutions will be willing to give out financial assets to producers of those goods and products for people to buy using credit.”

He, however, said that a national credit guarantee system that is fully funded by the government would help to promote credit accessibility, adding that when individuals and businesses have access to credit, it should be welcomed with integrity and access to requisite personal and corporate credit information.

The professor of credit manager further said: “On the part of Nigerians, it is not going to be business as usual. Track record relating to integrity and honesty will be the driving force in determining credit worthiness. So, if you don’t have good conduct to keep your revenue and source of income going, you will find yourself in stagnation.

“A bad track record hinders access to buying on credit and paying from income that comes at the end of every month. But a good record track will help to stabilise workplace attitude in favour of productivity. It will also help to stabilise family spending habits in terms of a steady stream of income coming in so that families can plan their expenditure on what they want to buy, at what price and at what time.