Ethiopia’s Ministry of Trade and Industry disclosed on Monday that inflation rate for consumer goods is now a double-digit number.
The rate has been increasing since December 2018 and has reached 15 percent in the month of August, Fetlework Gebreegziabheir who is the minister for the department, said during a meeting at the Intercontinental Hotel in the capital Addis Ababa.
The intervention of brokers manufactured shortage of supply for consumer goods, conducting transactions illegally and weak capacities of associations are identified as causes for the rise in inflation rate for consumer goods based on a study administered by the ministry, as reported by the state media Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation.
The ministry says there is no shortage of supply of consumer goods but merchants are increasing prices pretending that there is a supply shortage.
In terms of a solution, the ministry believes that controlling illicit trade, import substitution and supplying the market with adequate locally produced consumer products are capable of fixing the soaring inflation rate.