Beirut, Feb 1 (IANS): Lebanese Minister of Social Affairs Hector Hajjar said that about 50 per cent of the country's population have registered for social assistance through the social safety net financing plan funded by the World Bank.

A total of 550,000 families, or 3.5 million individuals, have registered for cash assistance, mostly from areas in Akkar, Baabda and Tripoli, Xinhua news agency quoted Hajjar as saying on Monday.

"Each family will receive a fixed amount of $25 monthly, and an extra $20 for each child in the family, for up to six children," he explained.

Funded by a World Bank loan of $246 million, the social safety net financing plan aims at helping the most vulnerable families in Lebanon which has been going through its worst economic and financial crisis with a poverty rate exceeding 75 per cent.

Hajjar noted that registrations for the cash assistance revealed that around 250,000 Lebanese families or 2.5 million individuals live under the extreme poverty line.