BEIRUT, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Employees in Lebanon's private sector will receive an amount of extra money on a monthly basis as financial support amid the unprecedented economic and financial crisis in the country, according to a Presidency statement.

       The decree signed by President Michel Aoun on Thursday grants employees in the private sector an additional 1,325,000 Lebanese pounds (about 49 U.S. dollars in the parallel market) a month if their monthly salaries do not exceed 4 million pounds, the statement said.

       As for monthly salaries exceeding 4 million pounds, they will be subject to an increase determined by "collective agreements and negotiations with the International Labor Organization," it added.

       Lebanon's minimum wage per month is set at 675,000 pounds, once equal to 450 dollars but now only 25 dollars, as the country's inflation has soared to 208 percent, according to government data.