Budget support to GOCCs as of Nov 2023 down 4.5%

MANILA, Philippines  -Government subsidies to state-run corporations declined in the first 11 months of 2023 from the previous year, as the continued economic reopening allowed the state to reduce its budgetary support to these companies.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed subsidies to government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) amounted to P153.1 billion from January to November, down by 4.5 percent.

In November, however, subsidies went up 9.2 percent year-on-year to P6.7 billion.

Broken down, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) received the biggest budgetary support among the GOCCs in the first 11 months at P50.74 billion. That was 22.5 percent lower than the amount that PhilHealth received last year, as COVID-19 cases fell from the highs seen at the onset of the pandemic.

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) was the second biggest recipient of subsidies so far this year at P38.4 billion.

Next to NIA was the National Housing Authority, which received subsidies amounting to P17.83 billion during the period.

Subsidies

In the 11-month period, Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Duty Free Phils. Corp did not get any subsidies from the national government.

Subsidies form part of the government’s total spending, which last month contracted by 4.69 percent year-on-year to P21.3 billion.

From January to November, state disbursements expanded 3.59 percent annually to P4.68 trillion, data showed.

As it is, the cost of supporting GOCCs is still higher than state earnings through dividends remitted by these companies to the Treasury. As of Dec. 12, GOCCs remitted P99.2 billion in dividends to the national government, latest data from the Department of Finance showed.

That amount—collected from 49 GOCCs—nevertheless beat the government’s target for this year, which was set at P16 billion based on documents from the budget department. INQ