Portugal Reaches Bailout Deal

Portugal pleaded for a bailout, and now it's got one. The hard-up nation has negotiated a bailout from the EU and IMF worth about $116 billion. The three-year loan is a "good agreement that defends Portugal," according to caretaker PM Jose Socrates, who added that Portugal would receive an extra year—until 2013—to cut its government deficit below the EU's 3% ceiling. But the AP notes that the extension was necessary after the country disclosed a much larger than expected budget shortfall for last year.

Portugal is the third member of the 17-nation eurozone, after Greece and Ireland, to take a bailout. One of western Europe's poorest countries, Portugal has said it will run out of money next month. Click for more on the country's money woes. (More Portugal stories.)