We consider that National Bank of Greece operates in a highly vulnerable and weak economic and operating environment. It has accumulated large imbalances in its asset quality and liquidity and these are likely to take a long time to resolve. However, in our view, National Bank of Greece's creditworthiness has improved as a result of continued access to the liquidity facilities provided by the European authorities, the recently completed capital increase, and the lower downside risks we see in our capital and earnings projections. We are therefore raising our long-term rating on National Bank of Greece to 'CCC+' and affirming our short-term rating at 'C'. The stable outlook reflects our opinion that the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund will continue to
