In the period before the nationalisation of banks, key sectors of the economy, including agriculture, remained thoroughly neglected in terms of availability of institutional credit. Whereas the industrial sector at that time accounted for about 15 per cent of national output, it appropriated two-thirds of commercial bank credit, whereas the agricultural sector contributing about half of national output was almost completely neglected by the commercial banks. Internal financial liberalisation has had adverse effects upon the availability of credit for farmers, adding to the various economic sources of agrarian distress. The rural sector still remains parched of bank credit - serious attempts have been made in recent years to dilute the norms of whatever remains of priority sector bank lending.