EU gives Greece three years to tame budget deficit

The European Union's executive on Wednesday gave Greece until the end of 2012 to bring its runaway budget deficit under control in a bid to stabilize the single EU currency, the euro, DPA reported.

In October, Greece's newly-elected government revealed that the deficit was almost four times higher than the outgoing administration had said. The revelation shook international markets and caused the euro to fall against the dollar and pound.