Gov’t subsidies to state firms up 17% in July
MANILA -The national government’s subsidies to state-owned and -controlled corporations jumped by 17 percent to P96.9 billion in the seven months up to the end of July, from P83 billion in the same period last year.
Most of the subsidies given out during those seven months went to healthcare, food production and sourcing, energy and housing initiatives.
The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) received the largest amount at a total of P37.6 billion. Others among the top five recipients of subsidies were the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) with P25.8 million; Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (P5 billion); National Food Authority or NFA (P4.7 billion); and National Housing Authority or NHA (P4.5 billion).
In July alone, the government spent about P33.2 billion on subsidies, 9.6 percent higher than the P30.3 billion given out in the same month last year.
PhilHealth received the month’s largest amount at P22.6 billion while the NIA got P3.99 billion; NHA, P3.3 billion; Philippine Fisheries Development Authority, P1.3 billion; and National Power Corp., P273 million.
Meanwhile, the national government has been cracking the whip on national agencies to speed up disbursement of their respective allocations, considering that a contraction on government expenditures was partly blamed for a significantly slower-than-expected growth in gross domestic product during the second quarter.
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In the seven-month period, the national government’s budget deficit was pegged at P47.8 billion, dropping by 45 percent from P86.8 billion in the comparative period of 2022. In that period, government spending grew by 16 percent to P459.6 billion from P395.4 billion previously.
The Department of Budget and Management directed government agencies to turn in “catch-up” spending plans by Sept. 15, as part of efforts to facilitate the implementation of the 2023 national budget for the remainder of the year.
