GOCC subsidies climb in September
Credit to Author: Mayvelin U. Caraballo, TMT| Date: Sun, 15 Dec 2019 16:13:22 +0000
Subsidies extended by the national government to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) rose in October, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.
Twenty-eight state-run firms secured P7.23 billion, a 366.66-percent rise from P1.55 billion in the same month last year.
The National Food Authority (NFA) accounted for the bulk, or P2.77 billion, of total subsidies in the month. NFA is responsible for promoting the integrated growth and development of the grains industry covering rice, corn, feed grains and other grains like sorghum, mongo, and peanut.
The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) came in second with P483 million, and Local Water Utilities Administration with P276 million.
Also receiving assistance in October were the Light Rail Transit Authority, National Electrification Administration, National Power Corp., Philippine National Railways, Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority, Bases Conversion and Development Authority, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Credit Information Corp., Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, Lung Center of the Philippines, National Dairy Authority, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine Coconut Authority, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, Philippine Heart Center, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Philippine Institute for Development Studies, Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care, People’s Television Network Inc., Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Southern Philippines Development Authority, Sugar Regulatory Administration, Tourism Infrastructure, Enterprise Zone Authority, and Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority.
The October figure boosted the year-to-date government subsidies to surge by 25.60 percent to P158.73 billion from the year-earlier figure of P126.38 billion.
State-run companies with the biggest funding assistance in the first 10 months of the year were the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) with P61.55 billion, NIA with P32.05 billion, and Land Bank of the Philippines with P30.48 billion.
Subsidies fell under the national government’s disbursements program.
State spending in October rose by 1.37 percent to P310.8 billion from P306.6 billion a year ago, boosting the year-to-date tally by 5.05 percent to P2.93 trillion.
In 2018, the government gave away a record P136.652 billion in subsidies.