John Paulson Sees Greece Having Upside Potential (NBG)

National Bank of Greece (NYSE: NBG) is up on the session amid news from the country that it plans to emerge from a recession soon.

Greek vice finance minister Christos Staikouras said that the country's budget for 2014 calls for growth of 0.6 percent. That would close what has become a six-year recession for the country leading up to the financial fiasco of 2008.

Greece will submit a final version of the form in November.

The troika -- the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank, and European Commission -- have lent Greece €240 billion euros to sustain its economy.

Also making bet on recovery is famed hedge fund principal John Paulson. In a statement made Monday, Paulson said, We think Piraeus and Alpha, two banks we have a position in, are now very well capitalised and poised to recover ... They have good management and we think the Greek economy is improving, which should benefit the banking sector.

Greece's Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) has put €25 billion into the country's top four banks, becoming majority owner in the process. The banks are National, Piraeus, Alpha and Eurobank.

Today, National Bank of Greece is up 16.6 percent.

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