GOCC dividends decline in first nine months

GOVERNMENT-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) issued lower dividends year on year at the end of September, the Finance department said.

“Collections as of September 2017 — so far we have P21.62 billion from 50 GOCCs,” Finance Assistant Secretary Soledad Emilia J. Cruz told reporters last week.

In the first nine months of 2016 dividends amounted to P27 billion.

Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. was the top remitter at P2.6 billion. Development Bank of the Philippines paid into the Treasury P2.5 billion, and the Manila International Airport Authority P2.2 billion.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines remitted P1.9 billion, Philippine Ports Authority P1.9 billion, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) P1.8 billion.

The Department of Finance said collections were lower this year because Landbank of the Philippines retained funds to meet new capital adequacy ratio standards imposed by the central bank.

The BSP in 2014 required banks to meet a 10% capital adequacy ratio, higher than the Basel 3 framework international standard of 8%. Full compliance is expected by Jan. 1, 2018.

The lower collections were also due to the one-time payment from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority ( MCIAA) of P5 billion in 2016.

In 2016, the MCIAA was required to remit P4.9 billion in dividends to the Treasury bureau after the Finance and Transportation departments agreed that the P14.4 billion premium paid by GMR-Megawide Consortium, the winning bidder for developing the MCIAA terminal, was part of the income of the MCIAA.

GOCCs are required to declare and remit at least half of their income as dividends to the national government, as provided for in Republic Act No. 7656, or the GOCC Dividend Law.

This year, the Bureau of the Treasury expects P27.48 billion in dividends. —