Officials find themselves between a hard and a rock place as the price of commodities exhibit a drastic upsurge as Ethiopians Easter approaches.
The price of oxen range between 30,000 birr and 200,000 birr, while sheep is costing between 5000 birr and 22,000 birr. The ceiling price registered in the cattle market this holiday is historic-high, traders say.
One of major consumables during holiday, butter saw a 50 percent increase since the last holiday, Christmas, on February 2022. Unusual during holiday, the cost of onion also soared by 15 birr to over 45 birr since last week.
These all heaps pressure on politicians to take action and trade offices are trying to stablize the market by supplying commodities at an affordable rate through consumer unions.
Meanwhile, an Editorial piece that has appeared on Addis Zemen suggesting the public to cut some of their expenses as a solution to withstand the inflationary pressure faced a sharp criticism among the public. Many blamed the state media outlet for siding with officials and criticising for its failure to point out policy gaps that have caused the inflationary pressure.