Gov’t subsidy to 36 state firms jumped 177% to P45B in Jan.-Nov.

The government gave out P13.46 billion in subsidies to state-owned and -controlled corporations and similar entities in November, the bulk of which went to the National Housing Authority (NHA).

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) show that the amount was 357 times the P367 million given out in the same month of 2010.

This brought the cumulative subsidies extended to 36 state firms in the 11 months to November to P45.2 billion or 177 percent more than the P16.32 billion a year ago.

The increase in the 11-month subsidy was observed as government spending finally exceeded programmed expenditure for November, which is P148.7 billion. Actual spending during the month was P150.7 billion.

The top recipient during the 11 months was the NHA with P15.2 billion or a third of the total for the period.

According to the Housing and Urban Development Coordination Council, the government wants to serve at least 190,000 of the estimated 1.38 million households that need housing services in 2011.

In the first half of this year, the NHA covered 10,508 households through programs involving resettlement, slum upgrading, and acquisition and development of raw land.

The government estimates that from 2011 to 2016, some 5.73 million households would be needing housing services.

For the same period, government agencies are aiming to provide direct housing services to 1.48 million households or just about a quarter of the demand.

Also among the top five recipients of subsidies from January to November were Land Bank of the Philippines, P7.93 billion; Philippine Health Insurance Corp., or PhilHealth, P6.62 billion; National Power Corp., P3.62 billion; and National Food Authority, P2.5 billion.

In November alone, NHA got some P13 billion, or 96 percent of the total amount extended during the month. It was also 85 percent of the total subsidies the NHA had received so far this year.

Other agencies that received subsidies were Philippine Postal Corp. with P165 million; Philippine Coconut Authority, P54 million; Philippine National Railways, P52 million; and Philippine Forest Corp., P46 million.

Last week, the BTr reported that state spending for January to November reached P1.3 trillion, or only 78.7 percent of the programmed P1.71 trillion for the entire year.