Mexico approves 2013 budget, lowers growth outlook

MEXICO CITY, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Mexico's lower house of Congress approved the 2013 budget on Thursday, raising spending but moderating growth expectations as economic uncertainty in the United States and Europe, its top trading partners, continues to bite.

With 460 votes in favor and 10 against, the budget sees growth of 3.5 percent in 2013, down from the 3.9 percent expected this year.

Government spending was also raised, up 6.7 percent to nearly 4 trillion pesos ($310 billion).

"Resources are always limited, so we try to assign them in the most efficient way possible," National Action Party (PAN) congressman Ricardo Anaya said.

The budget is President Enrique Pena Nieto's first. He took office this month, returning the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to power after a 12-year hiatus. The PRI ran Mexico for much of the 20th century.

(Reporting by Miguel Gutierrez, writing by Gabriel Stargardter, editing by Stacey Joyce)