Perhaps at no other time in Ethiopian modern history has the inflationary pinch been felt so hard by so many people within such a brief period. What does the lay-person have to say about why we are subjected to sudden price hikes? Society ponders this burning issue:

The ‘Death’ of Eteye Lemlem

A neighbor of mine, let’s call her Eteye Lemlem, used to be a cheerful mother of four teenagers and two rowdy toddlers. Imagine what kind of patience is needed to maintain one’s sanity with six children to look after. That’s why Eteye Lemlem never ceased to amaze me. She took everything in stride. An overbearing husband, often unruly children, a bothersome neighbor or two … throw anything at her and that smile will still be there. Ah … she was a remarkable person…but wait a minute, dear reader, you may be thinking that Eteye (by the way, Eteye is a traditional title that comes before a respected lady’s first name …a sort of ‘ma’ am’) Lemlem has passed away. Oh no, she is very much alive, although as far as I am concerned she might as well have departed.
You see, she is no longer the gay, outgoing, patient and accommodating person she used to be. Eteye Lemlem’s legendary good temper has been broken down by the relentless inflationary hammer that is pounding us all.
Today, she won’t brighten up your morning with a cheerful, totally earnest “Endemen Aderkilegn yene lij” (How are you for me this morning, my son) – she’s too pre-occupied with whether the pantry can hold out until her husband (grouchier than ever) receives his ETB 1500 monthly salary. Her husband’s income had up to only recently made her among the more affluent matrons of the neighborhood. He had a dream job with pay that approached that of a cabinet minister’s not so long ago.
Mind you, Eteye Lemlem is a pragmatic person and not one to buckle over ‘natural’, and therefore sustainable price increments. It is only when virtually everything necessary to life escalated drastically within the space of less than two years that even she couldn’t cope.
So what causes such spikes in the cost of living?
Is it a sudden (and strange) increase in population? Nope, the birth rate in Ethiopia is actually falling, albeit slowly…
Is it because people suddenly have disposable cash and therefore consume more? Let’s not kid ourselves; the average Ethiopian is actually worse off in income terms than 30 years ago.
Okay then, how about the increasing cost of fuel supplies? Well, let’s concede a point here but then let’s also consider the fact that the price hikes on consumables is not proportionate to the relatively stable international oil prices.
I give up then. I’ve run out of possible reasons why Ethiopia is stuck on the inflation escalator. Perhaps Eteye Lemlem may offer advice. I was about to knock at her gate when one of her sons opened it with a small discarded medicine jar. He quickly hid it from me – but not before I realized that the formerly well stocked up family was reduced to buying cooking oil by the mililiter. ‘Felekegn? (you wanted to see me) was how the new, sterner Weyzero Lemlem greeted me. I stammered out my question – ‘What causes such sudden and enduring price hikes?’ She looked at me as if I were less than sober. Then she raised her eyes to the heavens and said, “Only God knows. I only wish that He won’t also inflate my age on earth… I can’t afford it!

What causes artificial price hikes?

Trades people take unfair advantage of temporary factors to raise prices and maintain them even long after the reasons for the hikes are no more. This shows us that the business community is operating with impunity.

Yared, student

Just the other day, I heard that Zimbabwe has just issued a $ 200,000 note in order to somehow deal with the 4,500 % inflation rate. May I say that more of the same fiscal lunacy is on the horizon for Ethiopia if urgent policy adjustments are not made…?

Genet, engineer

Our grandparents may have bought a whole live sheep for 3 birr and sold its hide for 5. That means they were paid two birr to enjoy the mutton. Our parents may have paid 25 Birr for a sheep. Today we shell out 300-1000 Birr for the same animal. Nothing has really changed as it’s all relative. We can not be stuck in the “good old days”. Time moves on as well as the cost of living.

Getu, programmer

Bring back government corporations,re-open the Kebele “Hibret suk’ shops, conduct media campaigns warning profiteers to behave or else. Most importantly, re-institute state fuel subsidies.

Mamo, survivor