SUBSIDIES extended to government-owned companies grew 28% year on year to P9.16 billion in September, with the National Housing Authority (NHA) the top recipient, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.
The BTr said government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) subsidies declined compared to the P42.35 billion seen in August, when P30.61 billion was given to the leading recipient, PhilHealth.
The NHA was given P3.059 billion in September, up 2.24% from a month earlier. It did not receive subsidies in September 2020.
This was followed by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., which received P2.24 billion, more than six times last year’s figure. It did not receive subsidies in August.
Other top recipients include the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) at P2.198 billion, the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) at P735 million, the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) at P147 million, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) at P127 million, and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) at P107 million.
Subsidies are granted to GOCCs to cover operational expenses not supported by their revenue.
Meanwhile, GOCCs that did not receive budget support were the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, the Development Academy of the Philippines, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), the Philippine Postal Corp., the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, the Small Business Corp., the Local Water Utilities Administration, the National Electrification Administration, the National Food Authority, National Power Corp., Philippine National Railways, and the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp.
Total subsidies in the nine months to September declined 8.12% to P145.86 billion, bringing overall subsidies to 98.45% of the P148.2 billion budgeted for 2021.
A total of P76.06 billion went to support PhilHealth’s operations in the year to date, followed by the P27.81 billion granted to NIA along with P14.83 billion to NHA. — Jenina P. Ibanez
