Greek bank employees have dropped a threat to mark the launch of the euro with a strike after management agreed to pay an E450 monthly bonus in January and Februray - the period when drachmas will be pulled out of circulation.

OTOE, the powerful bank employees' union, agreed its members would work an extra hour a day during the changeover period. The strike threat had been looming for several months, but "the prospect of chaos during the vital days of the euro's launch... meant a deal had to be struck," said one senior banker.

There have already been a few problems. Since December 17, Greek banks have distributed 1.8m of the 3m starter kits containing the equivalent of Dr5,000 in euro coins. But banks in Athens and other big cities ran out of starter kits within two days.

In spite of efforts by the central bank to ensure the kits were freely available, bureaucracy took over at some Greek banks. Branch managers, worried about accounting for their quota of starter kits, insisted customers should sign receipts or give their tax registration number before handing over the packs of coins.

A handful of bank branches in areas of Greece that cater to package holidayplanners wanted to charge commission for supplying starter-kits to local residents.

"We had reports that customers were asked to pay a commission on euro starter-kits on the grounds the bank was handling a foreign currency transaction," a central bank official said.

Demand from small businesses for supplies of euro coins is increasing after a slow start. Officials at EFG Eurobank said they were "overwhelmed" with requests.

"We asked for more coins than our initial allocation from the central bank because we had a hunch there'd be a lot of cash-based businesses looking for them. Even so, we may still run out before Jan 1," one official said.

The Greek rush to acquire euros has taken authorities somewhat by surprise. Until last week, Greeks had been slow to jump on the euro bandwagon. According to one poll earlier this month, only 72 per cent of Greeks were aware the euro was being launched on Jan 1 - the lowest percentage in the eurozone.

But the telephone hotline for information on the euro is attracting more than 1,500 calls a day, and Athenians are rushing to acquire euro converters. Arben, an Albanian street trader selling converters in a central Athens square, said: "Nobody was interested till the starter kits came out, but now business is booming."