Sales agents at the giant Greek government betting monopoly OPAP have suspended a strike against a new government tax on punters’ winnings, reports the Reuters news agency.

The row that triggered the walkout and caused a decline in the OPAP share price stems from a law passed last week which initially appeared to amount to a 10 percent betting tax on the gross winnings of punters in an attempt by legislators to raise Euros 1.9 billion towards narrowing the Greek budget deficit.

However, government sources subsequently assured the striking employees that the tax is only on the net winnings of players, prompting their return to work.

OPAP’s sales agents run about 5 300 retail outlets selling lottery cards and sports betting games across Greece.