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Portugal reaches deal on EU and IMF bail-out
Portugal's caretaker prime minister Jose Socrates has announced that he has reached agreement on a bail-out from the EU and the International Monetary Fund. He said the three-year loan was a "good agreement that defends Portugal". His office says that Portugal will be asking for financial assistance worth 78bn euros ($116bn; £70bn). Officials from the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF have been working on a deal for three weeks. In a televised statement, Mr Socrates said that Portugal would be given more time to reach its budget deficit targets than had previously been expected. The deficit ... (full story)