Zaman - As Greece’s economic woes continue, the country’s largest bank, National Bank of Greece (NBG), throws a critical lifeline to ease the burdens of the economic crisis. Turkey’s Finansbank, which NBG is in possession of controlling its stakes since 2006, helped the struggling financial powerhouse overcome the worst of the crisis. While NBG’s losses in Greece amounted to EUR 159 million in the first half of 2010, Finansbank profits reached EUR 251 million in the same period, thanks to Turkey’s often-praised solid banking system. NBG has posted losses for the first half of the year in Greece and the bank’s net profits declined to EUR 50 million in its other subsidiaries in Southeastern Europe.