Spanish Finance Minister Luis De Guindos has said that Spain could close the year with a more favourable gross domestic product (GDP) than expected.

During an appearance in Congress, De Guindos said that Spain's growth could be somewhat better than the 1.5% contraction expected and that the government's estimates have always been on the conservative side.

De Guindos praised the country's labour reform although it has not yet produced results and highlighted the positive performance in foreign trade.

He said that there would be a "structural" change when the balance of payments has a surplus at the end of this year.

De Guindos also said that he was convinced that the economy's improvement must go in hand with less doubts over the euro.

The third-quarter GDP figure released on Tuesday showed a 0.3% decline quarter-on-quarter, 10 basis points better than the reading the quarter before.

SB

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