MANILA, Philippines — Budgetary support to state-run firms dropped by 60 percent to just P1.11 billion in January, with the entire amount going to the power sector.
Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that subsidies to government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) at the onset of the new year slipped 61.2 percent to P1.11 billion, from P2.87 billion in the same period last year.
The entire amount went to major non-financial government corporations, particularly the National Power Corp. (Napocor). This is a 57 percent decline from the P2.56 billion allotted for the subsector.
In the same period in 2022, Napocor did not get any subsidy.
No subsidy was allotted to other government corporations and government financial institutions.
The government grants subsidies to GOCCs to cover operational expenses that are not supported by their own revenues.
For its current fiscal year, Napocor is facing constraints in its corporate operating budget, posing a major problem in sustaining its operations in off-grid areas.
Cited as a major constraint is the continued rise in the prices of petroleum products, particularly oil, which is the primary fuel used by Napocor’s Small Power Utilities Group power plants.
The P1.11 billion subsidy will be used to cover the state-owned corporation’s due and demandable fuel payables under last year’s subsidy.
The prior year’s national government subsidy is a special provision in the General Appropriations Act that authorizes the use of subsidy release for programs and projects to cover the additional funding requirements of activities or projects under the agency’s program.
Napocor’s outstanding fuel payables for the operation of SPUG power plants and barges amount to P1.031 billion for the billing months covering November to December 2022.
In January, the Marcos administration recorded its first budget surplus at P45.7 billion as revenue collections picked up.
During the month, overall government expenditures just barely moved at P302.4 billion while revenues jumped by 25 percent to P348.2 billion.