June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Mexico's Senate leader, Manlio Fabio Beltrones, said President Felipe Calderon's plan to boost tax collection should also address how to increase resources for state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos by lessoning its tax burden.

Once lawmakers introduce the tax bill in congress, the Senate will need 30 to 40 days to analyze it, Beltrones said in a speech in Mexico City. Senators are prepared to add a measure to reduce Pemex's tax burden, Beltrones said.

Beltrones's comments hint at the coming debate between Calderon's National Action Party and opposition lawmakers needed to pass any bill through congress. Beltrones is a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which in March helped pass a Calderon-backed bill to pare the government's pension liability.

``If the bill that the executive branch sends doesn't have changes to hydrocarbons, we will have to do it ourselves, given that the current fiscal regime is unfair,'' Beltrones said.

Rather than change Mexico's constitution to allow private investment Pemex should seek ``strategic alliances'' with other companies, Beltrones said. Mexico's constitution prohibits private and foreign companies from investing directly in oil, gas and refineries.

Pemex generated 38 percent of federal government's revenue in 2006.

Calderon, speaking today to reporters during a tour of the southern state of Veracruz, said he would meet with opposition leaders to build support for his tax bill.

``I will be making visits with political parties, with state governments, with legislators to find a way that we can increase public resources in order to fight extreme poverty,'' Calderon said, according to a transcript e-mailed by his office.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adriana Arai in Mexico City at at aarai1@bloomberg.net; Patrick Harrington in Mexico City at pharrington8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 18, 2007 15:26 EDT