The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, today inaugurated the 5,000th rural branch of the SBI at Sagardighi and the 13,333rd branch of the same bank here at Kandi.

He expressed concern over spiralling inflation, the country's increasing current account deficit and trade imbalances. “These are the issues which raise concern. Inflationary pressures are there and non-oil imports are rising,” he told reporters on the occasion.

He said that imports of capital goods, raw materials and intermediaries are rising, widening the trade gap.