Philippine Senate on Monday approved on the third and final reading the proposed 1.126-trillion-peso ( 22.65 billion U.S. dollars) budget for 2007, the GMA TV reported.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Franklin Drilon said the bicameral conference committee meetings on next year's budget would be held within the week.

Drilon said the most contentious issue that could become the focus of bicameral debates could be the House of Representatives' appropriation for debt service, which is 8 billion pesos (161 million U.S. dollars) higher than the Senate version.

The House of Representatives passed its version of the budget in October.

The Philippine government is currently operating on a reenacted 2005 budget, amounting to 907.6 billion pesos (18.26 billion U.S. dollars), after the Senate and the House of Representatives failed to pass the 2006 proposal over disagreements in cuts.

The proposed 2007 budget is 83.3 billion pesos (1.67 billion U. S. dollars) higher than the 2006 budget.