MANILA, Philippines — Budgetary support to state-run firms rose by 5.2 percent to P10.79 billion in March from P10.72 billion in the same month last year, with the bulk of the subsidies meant to cover stranded electricity costs and debt that is being charged to consumers and to fund irrigation projects.
Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that subsidies to government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) in March went down by 26 percent to P9.4 billion from P12.69 billion in the same period last year.
Budgetary support for other corporations jumped by 38.7 percent to P6.67 billion in March from P4.81 billion in the same month last year, while subsidy extended to major non-financial government corporations fell by 30.1 percent to P4.13 billion from P5.91 billion.
The government grants subsidies to GOCCs as a way of covering operational expenses that are not supported by their own revenues.
For March, almost half or 46 percent of the total subsidies amounting to P5 billion went to the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) to service the debt of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) being passed on to consumers.
On the other hand, P3.39 billion went to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), 31.9 percent higher than the P2.57 billion extended to the agency in March last year.
Other major recipients of subsidies last March include the Small Business Corp. (SBC) with P650 million, National Food Authority (NFA) with P598 million, National Dairy Authority (P221 million), Philippine Heart Center (P147 million), Philippine National Railways (P123 million) and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (P106 million).
For the first quarter of the year, budgetary support for GOCCs declined by 18.9 percent to P21.31 billion from P26.27 billion in the same quarter last year.
From January to March, budgetary support for major non-financial government corporations was unchanged at P12.74 billion, while subsidies for other government corporations fell by 37.7 percent to P8.43 billion from P13.54 billion.
Top recipients during the period include NIA with P10.18 billion followed by PSALM with P5 billion, NFA with P1.23 billion, Napocor with P1.11 billion and SBC with P650 million.
Budgetary support extended by the national government inched up by eight percent to P200.41 billion last year from P184.77 billion in 2021.
The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) cornered a 40 percent share with P80.05 billion, followed by NIA with P40.66 billion, National Housing Authority with P17.33 billion, PSALM with P8 billion, NFA with P7 billion, Napocor with P6 billion, among others.
During the quarter, the country’s budget shortfall eased by 14.5 percent to P270.9 billion from P316.8 billion in the same quarter last year after government receipts picked up while state spending declined largely due to lower interest payments.
From January to March, the cumulative revenue collections picked up by 4.38 percent to P818.7 billion, with both tax and non-tax revenues posting growth.
On the other hand, government spending in March went down by 2.62 percent to P468.9 billion