The Red Cross says the backlog of hardship grants in Christchurch may be cleared by Thursday.
The chairman of the 2011 Red Cross Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Commission, Sir John Hansen, says however that that relies on the rate of applications remaining at about 500 a day.
Sir John says that just 10,000 of the 39,000 requests received are unresolved, and he is happy with the pace of his team's work.
He says 120 staff are currently processing 2500 applications a day.
