BEIRUT- Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star reported on Friday that the Cabinet is expected to meet next week to look into the proposal of Finance Minister Mohammad Shatah to raise the minimum wage to LL500,000 ($333). This suggestion may not be settled in one session.

Labor Minister Mohammad Fneish will give his opinion about the debate over the minimum wages during the Cabinet session, according to the English-speaking newspaper’s Friday edition. The Daily Star also reported that Fneish denied press reports that he had suggested raising the minimum wage to LL750,000 a month.

Prices of basic commodities in Lebanon are believed to have risen by more than 63 percent between 1996, when the minmum wage was last increased, and 2007.

The Consumer Price Index Committee says the prices of basic items such as sugar, rice wheat and cereals rose by 7.2 percent in the first seven months of this year, while the Central Bank projected inflation to reach between 13 to 15 percent at the end of 2008, according to the daily.