PIIGS, they call it. But it has nothing to do with farmyards.
It's the acronym for a group of five European Union countries -- namely, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain -- that are running massive budget deficits coupled with weak recovery prospects.
These nations are all members of the common currency's eurozone, and the uncertainty surrounding their financial problems is already driving down the value of the euro on money markets. The common currency in the past week fell to its lowest level in six months against the dollar.
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