I'LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT:

Spain's operating budget is on track to swing out of the red a year earlier than expected, in 2015, potentially boosting the economy and allaying fears that the country's debt load will become unsustainable, Budget Minister Cristóbal Montoro said in an interview Tuesday.

Mr. Montoro said Spain's exit from recession in recent months has made it possible that the government will record a primary budget surplus, which doesn't include debt payments, by 2015. The picture Mr. Montoro painted Tuesday is brighter than the one his government described only two months ago when Spain told the European Commission that it might take until 2016 for Spain to record a primary surplus.