De Guindos has served as economy minister in Rajoy's centre-right government since it took office in December 2011 and is credited with steering Spain to economic recovery following the euro zone's 2009–2014 crisis. He played a crucial role in negotiating the European Union's €100 billion bailout of Spain's stricken savings banks, and in spearheading the country's overhaul of the banking sector, labour market and other parts of the economy. His implementation of a program of both structural reforms and austerity measures has earned praise from Spain's European partners and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which estimated that no country other than Greece had implemented more structural reforms than Spain.