Government hikes subsidies to state firms in April

MANILA, Philippines — The government ramped up its budgetary support to state-run firms by 75 percent to almost P9 billion in April, with the bulk of the subsidies meant to support the agriculture sector.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that subsidies to government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) in April surged by 75 percent to P8.96 billion from P5.12 billion in the same period last year.

During the month, budgetary support for major non-financial government corporations reached P6.89 billion, up by 87 percent.

Likewise, subsidies for other government corporations soared by 44 percent to P2.08 billion from P1.45 billion a year ago.

The government grants subsidies to GOCCs as a way to cover operational expenses that are not supported by their own revenues.

For April, about 43 percent of the total subsidies went to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) at P3.88 billion.

This is a nearly 200 percent jump from the P1.3 billion it received in the same period last year.

The National Food Authority secured the second highest subsidy at P2.02 billion while the National Housing Authority came in third with P836 million.

Other top subsidy recipients during the month also include the agriculture sector through the Sugar Regulatory Administration and the Philippine Rice Research Institute.

During the month, no subsidy was released to the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., SB Corp., and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

For the four-month period, subsidies slightly went down by four percent to P30.27 billion from P31.39 billion a year ago.

For January to April, budgetary support for major non-financial government corporations reached P19.61 billion, up by 20 percent, while subsidies for other government corporations slipped by 30 percent to P10.51 billion.

In April, the government swung to a budget surplus of P66.8 billion as the increase in revenue collection outpaced the growth in state expenditures.

During the month, overall government expenditures grew nine percent to P373.9 billion while revenues picked up by 27 percent to P440.7 billion amid the tax season.