GOCC subsidies reach P795 M in January

MANILA, Philippines — The national government extended P795 million in subsidies to government-owned and-controlled corporations (GOCCs) last January, with the bulk going to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported.

The latest cash operations report of the BTr showed subsidies to state corporations in January declined 13.77 percent to P795 million from P922 million in the same month last year.

The national government provides subsidies to state firms to cover their funds for programs and projects, as well as operational expenses.

Based on BTr data, a total of 18 GOCCs received subsidies last January.

NIA received the largest budgetary support during the month, amounting to P435 million. This was slightly higher than the P426 million received by the agency the same month in 2018.

NIA implements irrigation projects all over the country, and provides free irrigation to small scale farmers. 

It was followed by the Philippine Heart Center, which received P74 million, and the Philippine Children’s Medical Center, which was granted P67 million in assistance.

Meanwhile, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, and the Philippine Rice Research Institute were given P50 million and P49 million, respectively.

Other GOCCs who received subsidies were the Cultural Center of the Philippines (P24 million), Lung Center of the Philippines (P17 million), Philippine Coconut Authority (P14 million), Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (P11 million), and the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (P11 million).

Eight other state-run firms also received subsidies amounting to less than P10 million during the month.

Subsidies to GOCCs form part of the national government’s expenditures. 

In 2018, government subsidies to GOCCs amounted to P136.652 billion, 4.24 percent up from the end-2017 level of P131.088 billion in 2017.

This is, however, lower than the P162.55 billion subsidies programmed for the whole year.

GOCC subsidies are projected to increase to P187.085 billion for full-year 2019, based on the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing of the Department of Budget and Management.

Meanwhile, government disbursements in 2018 reached P3.408 trillion, 20.85 percent up from P2.82 trillion in the previous year. This was also one percent above the P3.37 trillion spending program of the government during the period.