BUDGETARY SUPPORT to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) in June dropped 61% year on year, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.
The BTr reported that subsidies to GOCCs declined to P10.16 billion in June, while increasing 4.3% from May.
The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) received the largest subsidy with P7.52 billion, or 74% of all subsidies handed out in June.
The Philippine Rice Research Institute received P345 million while National Power Corp. got P302 million.
GOCCs that received subsidies of at least P100 million are the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority with P272 million, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. P260 million, Philippine Children’s Medical Center P180 million, Philippine Heart Center P139 million, National Kidney and Transplant Institute P133 million, Philippine Coconut Authority P122 million, Cultural Center of the Philippines at P112 million, Philippine National Railways P107 million, and the Small Business Corp. P100 million.
Those who received above P50 million in June were the Development Academy of the Philippines (P82 million), Light Rail Transit Authority (P72 million), Lung Center of the Philippines (P70 million), National Dairy Authority (P67 million), and the Tourism Promotions Board (P63 million).
On the other hand, no subsidies were given to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, National Home Mortgage Finance Corp., Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp., Social Housing Finance Corp., Local Water Utilities Administration, National Electrification Administration, National Food Authority, National Housing Authority (NHA), Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan, Philippine Postal Corp., the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority.
In the first six months of the year, GOCC subsidies rose by 5.51% to P67.21 billion from P63.7 billion in the same period last year.
NIA was the top recipient in the January-to-June period with P36.53 billion in subsidies. This was followed by PSALM (P8 billion) and the NHA (P3.75 billion).
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort noted that the smaller subsidies could be attributed to government efforts to shrink the budget gap and avoid additional borrowing.
“This could partly reflect the narrower budget deficit during the month, amid some fiscal reform measures such as more disciplined government spending, and maximizing the contribution of GOCCs in terms of higher dividends remitted to the National Government (NG),” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
Leonardo A. Lanzona, an economics professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, said GOCC subsidies were limited by the Finance department’s no new taxes rule.
Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto has stood firm in shelving any tax proposals, citing the need to improve revenue collection efficiency first.
In June, the NG’s budget deficit narrowed to P209.1 billion from P225.4 billion in the same month last year.
The government subsidizes GOCCs to help fund operational expenses covered by revenues. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
