Government subsidies down 23 percent to P105 billion in 9 months

MANILA, Philippines — The government reduced its budgetary support to state-run firms by a little over 20 percent to P105 billion over the nine-month period, with the bulk of the subsidies allocated to support irrigation projects.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that subsidies to government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) from January to September went down by 23 percent to P105.24 billion from P137.13 billion in the same period last year.

During the period, subsidies for other government corporations dropped by 57 percent to P33.47 billion from P78.26 billion a year ago. This category accounted for 32 percent of the total.

On the other hand, budgetary support for major non-financial government corporations reached P66.35 billion, rising by 14 percent. This comprised 63 percent of the total subsidies.

The remaining five percent, or P5.43 billion, went to government financial institutions, primarily the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp.

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

As of the end of the third quarter, about 52 percent of the total subsidies went to the National Irrigation Administration, at P54.38 billion.

This represents a 71 percent jump from the P31.81 billion it received in the same period last year.

The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) received the second-highest subsidy at P9.6 billion. However, subsidies to PhilHealth dropped by 81 percent during the nine-month period from the P50.61 billion it received a year ago.

The large, unused subsidies that PhilHealth received last year prompted the Department of Finance to order the return of P89.9 billion in sleeping funds back to the Treasury to fund other projects.

Of that amount, P60 billion has been transferred back to the Treasury, while the remaining P29.9 billion has been effectively held following the Supreme Court’s issuance of a temporary restraining order.

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. ranked third with P8 billion, increasing by 60 percent from the P5 billion allocated last year.

Other top subsidy recipients during the nine-month period included the National Housing Authority, National Electrification Administration, National Food Authority and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.

The smallest subsidy was given to the Philippine Center for Economic Development, at P25 million, followed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas with P30 million and the Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority with P35 million.

As of end-September, the government recorded a budget deficit of P970 billion, which was 1.35 percent below the same period last year.

This was due to both revenue collections and state spending exceeding targets.

During the period, total revenue collection increased by 16 percent to P3.29 trillion, while government spending rose by only 12 percent to P4.26 trillion.