The government gave out P2.8 billion in subsidies to state-owned and -controlled corporations in April, the bulk of which went to entities engaged in projects related to health, food, housing, electricity and irrigation.
Data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that the amount was 245 times higher than the P110 million given out in the same month of 2011.
This brought cumulative subsidies to state firms for the first four months of this year to a total of P7.88 billion, or 10 percent more than the P7.18 billion for the same period last year.
The increase in the January-April spending on subsidies was observed as the national government’s spending went up by 12.1 percent for the four-month period.
Expenditures for April alone went up by 9.1 percent, contributing to the BTr’s recording a record high budget surplus of P31.02 billion for a single month.
Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said earlier this week government disbursements continue to grow and to reverse the contraction of disbursements last year.
“Nonetheless, we acknowledge that government spending…needs to grow at a much faster pace in order to support our development targets,” Abad said.
The budget chief said departments responsible for implementing priority programs and projects—particularly those of public works, agriculture, transportation and communication, education, health and social welfare—need to improve their capacity to use the funds released to them.
Last week, the BTr reported that state aggregate spending in the four months to April reached P517.13 billion or barely two-thirds of the program for the first semester.
The top recipient of expenses on subsidies to state firms in the first four months was the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., or PhilHealth, with P2.06 billion.
Others among the top five recipients of subsidies were the National Food Authority (NFA) with P2 billion; National Housing Authority, P1.1 billion; National Electrification Administration (NEA), P562 million; and National Irrigation Administration, P516 million.
For April alone, the NFA was the top recipient, getting the entire P2 billion during the month.