It was a freezing rainy day last week; the loud music and busy sidewalks in the Piassa area were in stark contrast to the exceptionally chilly weather that has gripped Addis Abeba this rainy season. Uncommonly dense fog and bitterly cold weather have been the norm in the capital over the last few weeks, leaving residents huddled indoors and giving the city an eerie feel.

One of these residents, Tezera Bekele, 42, working in the civil service, was leaving a clothing store behind Cinema Empire, wearing a surly expression on his face. He was in the market looking for warm clothing, following a doctor's recommendation in an attempt to alleviate the recurrent sinus infections he suffers from.

"Heavy antibiotics are no longer working," he said. "I was miserable. The doctor suggested wearing warmer clothing to help soothe the infections."

Working with a budget, he hoped to find something cosy at the stores in Piassa. He was only disappointed to find winter jackets going for 2,500 Br on average while a pair of boots sold for as much as 3,000 Br. He walked out, unable to afford to pay that much and calling the prices "exaggerated."

The going prices were so far out of the reach of his 12,000 Br gross salary that he is already unsure how he will be able to get his two sons new clothes and shoes for when school reopens in September.

"The price of a single jacket is almost half my net income," said Tezera.

Tezera was not the only customer turning back upon hearing shop owners name their prices, which have doubled in recent months. Business is painfully slow, according to Yetenayet Abera, who owns one of the clothing shops behind Cinema Empire.

"It's foggy like the weather," she said.

Yetenayet saw when traffic to the area died down, and if she does manage to get a walk-in customer, they often walk right back out upon hearing how much her goods sell for. It is undoubtedly a manifestation of the unrelenting inflation that has gripped the country. Headline inflation hit a decade high of 26.4pc last month, according to the Central Statistics Agency, a federal agency that surveys the movement of prices for goods and services.

However, there are other reasons behind the surge in prices. The central bank's policies on forex management and travel restrictions have all led to the drop in the volume of clothing brought to the country, whether through formal or informal channels. Supply has been disrupted.

"The clothes on our mannequins are all from last year's stock," said Yetenayet.

Clothing made up almost 10pc of the country's four billion dollars worth of imports of consumer goods last year, according to data from Cepheus Capital, a private equity firm conducting macroeconomic analysis. The majority of this is brought in from China, the world's leading textile manufacturer. However, the figures do not account for the informal import of clothing from places like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Turkey.

Since the early 2000s, traders have been bringing in clothing informally as baggage on private travels. Individuals travel to these countries on commercial flights; upon their return, their luggage is filled with articles of clothing, shoes, fragrance and cosmetic items their customers in stores and boutiques are interested in buying. However, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly limited these hole-and-corner activities.

Strict travel restrictions, particularly to the UAE, abound, fewer people are making the trips. And when they do, there are extra costs involved for COVID-19 testing and, in some cases, quarantine. Unreliable test results before departure sometimes subject travellers to quarantine in a hotel once they have arrived at their destination – at their own expense.

They spend their entire budget on the hotel and return empty-handed, observed Eyouel Assefa, who has seen business slowing down at his travel agency since much of their customer-base were traders, flying mainly to Dubai to stock up.

This is a practice government officials want to see stop completely.

The Customs Commission is conducting research to adjust tariffs, discouraging these informal imports, particularly for clothing and electronic devices.

According to individuals involved in the trade, the foreign currency crunch combined with the central bank's new policies on the use of diaspora accounts is to blame for limiting clothing supply. Officials at the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) passed a directive earlier this year compelling diaspora account holders to surrender 30pc of their deposit in foreign exchange while limiting them to the imports of essential items such as pharmaceuticals and agricultural inputs. Clothing does not make it on the list.