UDPATE 1-Mexico posts 6.4 bln peso budget surplus in Jan

Tue Mar 2, 2010 4:01pm EST

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MEXICO CITY, March 2 (Reuters) - The Mexican government ran a budget surplus of 6.4 billion pesos ($503 million) in January MXPUFI=ECI, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.

Mexico plans to run a wider fiscal deficit this year to help the economy recover from its worst downturn since the Great Depression.

In this year's budget, public spending will outpace revenues by the equivalent of 2.8 percent of gross domestic product. The deficit figure includes the federal government as well as state-run oil company Pemex.

The government ran a 275 billion peso budget deficit last year, equivalent to 2.3 percent of GDP.

Mexico's economy contracted 6.5 percent in 2009. The government expects growth of 3.9 percent this year.

Mexico posted a 56.4 billion peso government budget deficit in December.

($1=12.73 pesos) (Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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