The Union finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukh-erjee, on Sunday expressed concern over the spiralling inflation, the country’s increasing current account deficit and trade imbalances.

“These are the issues which raise concerns. Inflationary pressures are there and non-oil imports are rising,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an event here on Sunday. He said that imports of capital goods, raw materials and intermediaries are rising, widening the trade gap.

Though financing the trade gap was now manageable, he cautioned that if the situation continued to be like this, the scenario would be uncertain. The finance minister said the import bill would rise further due to high oil prices. “I do not know to what extent we will be able to control import of petroleum products,” he said.