Mexico Senate panels pass 2008 revenue package
MEXICO CITY, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Mexican Senate committees approved the government's 2008 budget revenue bill on Monday, after it was revised in the lower house to include higher oil price estimates and income from newly approved taxes.
The government's income is seen at 2.56 trillion pesos ($239 billion), 153 billion pesos higher than the original proposal submitted by President Felipe Calderon in September.
The bill was approved by the Senate's finance and legislative studies committees and is due to be voted on by the Senate floor on Tuesday.
"It has been approved in committee and tomorrow it goes to the floor," said opposition senator Carlos Lozano, from the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
Mexican legislators recently approved a tax bill that includes new taxes for companies as well as a tax break for state-owned oil monopoly Pemex.
The revenue bill is based on a calculation of $49 a barrel for Mexican crude exports. That is 5.15 percent higher than the government-submitted proposal.
Mexico depends on oil exports to fund more than one-third of the federal budget.
The government often tried to shield public finances from energy market volatility by giving conservative forecasts for the average price of a barrel of Mexican crude.
