Mexico faces 480 bln peso revenue shortfall

MEXICO CITY, July 23 (Reuters) - Mexico's government faces a 480 billion peso ($36.3 billion) shortfall in its 2009 fiscal revenues due to the country's deep economic recession, Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said on Thursday.

The Finance Ministry said earlier on Thursday that spending this year needs to be cut by an additional 50 billion pesos ($3.8 billion).

The government plans to cover the revenue shortfall through spending cuts, use of revenues from hedges on oil export revenues, and cash held in rainy day savings funds, Carstens said. ($1=13.22 Mexican pesos) (Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Leslie Adler)