UPDATE 1-Mexico pitches 859 bln peso infrastructure plan through 2024

Mexico's government has announced an 859 billion peso ($44.3 billion) private sector infrastructure plan covering 147 projects through 2024, officials said on Tuesday.

The plan was described as the first phase of spending on infrastructure projects. The top sectors covered by the plan are transportation, including highways and ports, tourism and telecommunications.

"This is a manifestation, an expression that you as entrepreneurs have a civic and social dimension," said President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, addressing assembled businessmen and women at the national palace, as the plan was detailed during a morning news conference. The president's chief of staff, Alfonso Romo, described the plan as a public-private partnership designed to boost growth and lessen poverty in Mexico.

($1 = 19.3710 Mexican pesos)