GOCC July subsidy down 66%; 7-mo total dips to ₧94B

UBSIDIES extended by the national government to state-owned enterprises contracted 66.1 percent in July 2021, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTR).

Data showed subsidies received by government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCS) declined to P6.079 billion in July. This is also the second lowest recorded for the year after January’s P11 billion.

In July 2020, NG subsidies amounted to P17.934 billion while in June 2021, subsidies reached P7.153 billion.

BTR data also showed that subsidies extended to GOCCS amounted to a total of P94.361 billion in the January to July period this year.

This represented a 35.64-percent decline from the P142.622 billion recorded in the same period last year.

NIA, NHA top recipients

THE bulk of the government subsidies in July were received by Major Non-financial Government Corporations at P5.265 billion.

Of these corporations, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) received the largest amount at P2.756 billion followed by the National Housing Authority (NHA) at P1.483 billion.

In the past seven months, NIA has received a total of P19.596 billion in subsidies from the national government while NHA received P8.783 billion. These are also the highest extended to Major Non-financial Government Corporations this year.

Other government corporations, meanwhile, received a total of P814 million in subsidies in July. In the January to July period, the total subsidies they received reached P56.31 billion.

Of these corporations, those which received the largest subsidies in July were the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) at P147 million; Philippine Postal Corp. (PPC), P135 million; and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), P107 million.

In the January to July period, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) received the bulk at P45.456 billion. In July, Philhealth did not receive any subsidy.

A distant second and third were the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority which received a total of P1.751 billion and P1.277 billion, respectively. Both GOCCS did not receive any subsidies in July.

Earlier, the budget department noted that subsidies fell below the program due to the timing of releases pending submission of special budget releases by the GOCCS.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said delays were mainly due to their compliance with documentary requirements as well as the late submission of progress billings from contractors.