GOCC dividends rise 32% in 2018 to over P40B

GOVERNMENT-OWNED and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) remitted a record P40.18 billion worth of dividends to the national government in 2018, the Department of Finance (DoF) said in a statement over the weekend.

The 2018 dividend rose 32% from 2017.

The total was remitted by 55 GOCCs.

The DOF-Corporate Affairs Group (CAG) said the GOCC dividends for 2018 were a record, despite an exemption won by Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) from remitting dividends.

With LANDBANK’s share of P7.82 billion, the dividend total would have risen to P48 billion.

The national government waived LANDBANK‘s dividend obligation in 2017 to help it comply with the 10% capital adequacy ratio imposed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which is higher than the Basel 3 framework international standard of 8%, according to the DoF.

The DoF said that GOCC dividends in 2018 comprised 15.72% of the total non-tax revenue.

“This is unprecedented. The record amount demonstrates the effectivity of Undersecretary [Antonette C.] Tionko and her team in instilling fiscal discipline among the GOCCs since the Duterte administration took over in 2016,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III was quoted as saying.

Republic Act No. 7656 requires state firms to remit half of their annual earnings to the national government.

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. was the top contributor in 2018, generating P8.844 billion worth of dividends in 2018.

Other top dividend contributors were the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) with P6.224 billion; Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), P3.637 billion; Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), P3.103 billion; Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), P2.593 billion; Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), P2.535 billion; Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), P2.251 billion; and the National Power Corp. (NPC), P1.410 billion.

Mr. Dominguez attributed dividend growth to the “efficient monitoring of GOCCs by the DOF-CAG as well as by finance officials sitting on the boards of these state-run firms.” —