Gov’t subsidy to state firms hit P1.7B in Sept.

The government extended P1.7 billion in subsidies to state-owned and -controlled corporations in September, data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.

The bulk of the amount benefited entities engaged in projects related to electricity, housing, crops production and healthcare.

BTr data show that the amount was more than five times the P319 million given out in the same month of 2010.

This brought cumulative subsidies to 30 state firms for the nine months to September to P19.11 billion, or almost twice the P9.67 billion for the same period last year.

The increase in the nine-month spending on subsidies was observed amid continuous efforts of Malacañang to rev up expenditures as the effects of slow spending began to be felt in slower-than-expected economic growth.

The top recipient during the nine months was Philippine Health Insurance Corp., or PhilHealth, with P5.123 billion.

In the past several weeks, the Department of Budget and Management has released funds for healthcare, particularly after Malacañang announced a P72-billion economic stimulus package.

The fund releases included P6.5 billion to cover the government’s counterpart funding for indigent households’ health insurance for 2007-2010.

Also, the government has allotted for this year P3.5 billion for the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP), which will be released after a new set of guidelines has been finalized and issued by the DBM, PhilHealth and Department of Health.

Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said the NHIP kitty would benefit about 4.7 million indigent families and 1.4 million informal sector households.

Abad also said funding for the NHIP had increased to P12 billion in 2012, to benefit 5.7 million indigent families with wider healthcare coverage.

The other major recipients of subsidies from January to September were National Power Corp. with P3.624 billion; National Food Authority, P2.5 billion; National Housing Authority, P2.209 billion; and National Livelihood Development Corp., P1.433 billion.

For September alone, the National Electrification Administration was the top recipient, getting P861 million.

Other agencies that got the biggest subsidies in September were National Home Mortgage and Financing Corp. with P500 million; Philippine Coconut Authority, P378 million; and Philippine Children’s Medical Center and National Kidney and Transplant Institute, P47 million each.

Last week, the BTr reported that the state’s aggregate spending in the nine months to September reached P1.07 trillion, or 7.3 percent less than the P1.15 trillion incurred in the same period of 2010.