France has agreed to increase payments to low-paid workers on its Caribbean territories, as it attempts to head off escalating protests and violence.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon proposed supplementing their wages with a 200-euro ($253; £176) monthly payment.

"I hope this will meet the demands for measures to address the high cost of living in the West Indies," he said.

Rioting continued and 33 were arrested overnight on the island of Guadeloupe, where a man was killed this week.

A general strike over rising prices has crippled the island since 20 January. Shops and petrol stations have been shut, and rubbish has piled up on the streets.

A similar strike has taken hold on nearby Martinique.

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Police said they were fired upon in Pointe-a-Pitre on Wednesday night, but that nobody was injured. Shops, restaurants and a car dealership were also set alight by protesters.

The tourist industries in both Guadeloupe and Martinique have been badly affected by the unrest, with thousands of tourists cancelling holidays.

The islands use the euro, but prices are significantly higher than on the French mainland.

Some residents alleged that a wealthy, white elite is controlling imports and prices.

Patrick Lozes, head of the French black-rights group, Cran, complained that "160 years after the abolition of slavery, the descendants of colonial settlers own 90% of Guadeloupe's wealth, but represent only 1% of the population".