The Lebanese Cabinet approved today (Tuesday) increases in the salaries of workers in the public and private sectors, the military and pensioners, coinciding with protests against low wages.

Today, the Lebanese Council of Ministers held a session chaired by Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in conjunction with demand movements and protests in the vicinity of the Prime Minister's headquarters in downtown Beirut.

Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makari said, at the end of the session, that the cabinet decided for the public sector "temporary compensation to be paid as of the end of May," noting that four times the salary for a worker in the public sector was approved, provided that the compensation is not less than 8 million pounds ($82). USA) per month.

The Council of Ministers agreed to amend the temporary transportation allowance for the public sector, so that it becomes 450,000 pounds per day ($5).

The council also approved a compensation of 3 times the basic salary received by the military corps, provided that this compensation is not less than 7 million pounds per month ($72), in addition to 3 times the pension for retirees in all corps who benefit from a pension.

The Council of Ministers stated that this temporary compensation is of an exceptional nature.

Concerning the private sector, the Cabinet approved giving all employees and workers subject to the Labor Law an increase in the cost of living by 4,500,000 pounds ($46), and it also approved doubling the minimum wage to 9 million pounds ($92).

The council determined the value of the daily transportation allowance that the employer must pay to the employee for each day of actual attendance at the work center at 250,000 pounds (two and a half dollars).

These measures coincided with demand movements and protests in the vicinity of the Prime Minister's headquarters in downtown Beirut.

During the cabinet meeting, Mikati touched on the protest movements, saying that "the demands raised are mostly just, and we are working to resolve them and approve them according to the capabilities available in the treasury."

He expressed understanding for "the cries of the demonstrators, and we assure that we will spare no effort to follow them up."

The official Lebanese National News Agency stated that the sit-ins included confrontations between the sit-down military retirees and retirees of public administrations, in protest against the low value of their salaries in light of the collapse of the national currency.

Protesters tried to cut barbed wire in the vicinity of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, while the riot police fired tear gas to disperse them and remove them from the entrances to the headquarters, which caused injuries among the protesters and suffocation cases that required the civil defense personnel to provide first aid on the field.

Since the end of 2009, Lebanon has been witnessing a severe financial and economic crisis, which the World Bank classified as one of the worst crises in the world since the mid-nineteenth century.