Kalkidan, 36, a mother of two, makes a daily commute from her home around Ayat Tafo to the Amist Kilo area (covering 18Km) where she works. She moved to the capital’s outskirts two years ago, looking for affordable housing that averages 6,000 Br monthly rent. Her husband is an informal dealer hustling in the city.

Kalkidan cannot benefit from the transport system designated for public employees as she has to take her daughter to school. By the time she is done with the house chores and dropping off her child at the nearby school, she has to deal with the long queue for public transport coupled with the traffic jam. It usually takes her an average of an hour and a half to get to the office leading to late arrivals. Ironically, Kalkidan is in the high-paid bracket among employees in one of the City Administration Offices; she takes home a monthly net of 8,000 Br.

However, this income is hardly sufficient to cover monthly transport costs, let alone household expenses, usually leaving her with 2,000 Br after covering rent. Things have worsened in the past six months with the transport tariffs rising. She has been forced to dig into her husband’s pocket.

“The last time I got a 1,000 Br salary adjustment was a couple of years ago,” she told Fortune.

The “raise” is far lower than the galloping inflation that has taken over the capital. Kalkidan faces jaw clenching and eye protruding prices whenever she visits the local marts. She recalled when she tried to buy a diaper for her baby girl, the price showed a 75 Br increase from the last time. It was the last time she asked to buy diapers.

It has been five months since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s (PhD) administration began gradually lifting off fuel subsidies. Officials identified public transporters as beneficiaries of long-held subsidies on fuel with hopes of protecting people like Kalkidan from shouldering the burden. A project office under the Ministry of Transport & Logistics, working on national fuel subsidies, registered nearly 190,000 vehicles in its database. Two-thirds are active users.

The officials believe that the gradual lifting of subsidies protected the public from facing the impact at once.

However, the effect of the cross-country public transportation tariffs adjusted following the recent rise in fuel prices is felt by commuters like Solomon Shentama, an agro economist. He spends nearly a quarter of his monthly gross salary of 10,000 Br, paying for transportation. He finds the living cost in the regional states is relatively better, making it “bearable”.

He makes at least two round trips a month from Harar town to the capital, 558Km, to process his applications to travel abroad to study for his postgraduate studies.

“I spent double what I did before,” said Solomon.

Public transporters benefit from a daily fuel subsidy of 102Ltr to seven litres per car. Gas stations then cashback drivers through Telebirr. The financial service app by the state-owned Ethio telecom transacted more than 165 billion Br in the last six months, earning it 82.5 million Br. Telebirr subscribers increased to 27.2 million in less than two years of its launch in May 2021, a 38.8pc share of Ethio telecom customers.

Addis Abeba City Bus gets the largest volume of 102Ltr fuel for a bus at a subsidised rate. It runs 998 Sheger and Anbessa buses with a 32pc market share, serving an average of 868,000 commuters daily, burning up to 160Ltr.

According to Hayelom Redda, communications head, the company pays the balance from its budget.

“We requested the City Transport Bureau for a price adjustment,” he disclosed to Fortune.

Last week, the retail price of benzene reached 61.2 Br and diesel’s hiked up to 67.3 Br for a market whose demand saw an average 14pc annual increase over the past decade.

Drivers in the domestic market may feel grumpy about the second upsurge at the gas station in four months. The authorities do not seem to feel the desperation from the roads.

State Minister for Transport & Logistics (MoTL), Bereo Hassen, claims last week’s adjusted prices are not much compared to the international market. Consumers in the fixed income group may not have wages acclimated enough to shield them from the rising cost of living fuelled by increases at the pumping stations.

“Salary adjustment needs the macroeconomic committee’s decision,” said the State Minister, referring to the possibility of wage review for the civil service members such as Kalkidan.

The rise of prices in the market is unforgiving for many consumers. Year-on-year inflation accelerated to 35.1pc in November; it was 31.7pc a month before, driven by growing food prices.

The authorities in the trading front say they are responding to the challenge. The Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration (MoTRI) facilitated the provisions of edible oil and sugar at affordable prices, according to its communications head, Kumneger Ewnetu.

However, this does little to support consumer cooperatives due to the cost of transportation added to factory gate prices. Five litres of imported palm oil was sold for 947 Br, a little 100 Br more expensive than domestically bottled oil. The Ministry subsidised the cost of edible oil for the Christmas holiday two weeks ago, which could be changed after market research, said Kumneger.

For an economy that sustains a budget deficit surpassing four per cent of the GDP, macroeconomic policymakers are averse to subsidies on commodities available to the mass market. Nonetheless, the authorities find the annual spending on fuel subsidies the most demanding on the federal budget. Motorists and industries burned close to 2.6 billion litres of fuel last year, registering a 6.3pc growth from the previous year. The burden on the budget is equally daunting, costing the economy three billion dollars, exhibiting a whopping 75pc increase from the previous year.