This note outlines three main facets of the policies of the central monetary authority so as to obtain a macro-view of the financial environment for the agricultural sector. The three facets are: 1) the economic factors which are usually taken into account while formulating credit policies; 2) credit policies per se; (3) mechanism by which these policies are operated. The note finally poses a discussion problem that relates to the third facet of the policy - the problem of substitution of a formal source of credit for an informal one in backward rural areas.