THE government extended fewer subsidies to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) in February compared to the same month a year ago.
The Bureau of the Treasury reported that subsidies released by the national government to GOCCs contracted by 27.8 percent to P7.57 billion from P10.488 billion in February last year.
For the first two months of the year, the government has so far disbursed P7.581 billion this year in GOCC subsidies, also down by 27.7 percent from P10.488 billion in the same period a year ago since there were no subsidies released in January 2020.
For February alone, bulk of the subsidies went to major non-financial government corporations at P5.164 billion while the remaining P2.4 billion was given to other government corporations. Government financial institutions did not receive any subsidy during the month.
Leading the top recipients of subsidies among GOCCs is the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) with P4.99 billion, equivalent to nearly 66 percent of the total subsidies released for the month of February this year.
Following NIA is the Bases Conversion and Development Authority with P720 million, Small Business Corporation (P300 million), Philippine Heart Center (P296 million), National Kidney and Transplant Institute (P213 million) and Philippine Children’s Medical Center (P209 million).
The national government provides subsidies to state-run firms to fund operations not covered by the corporate revenues or to finance specific programs or projects.
Last year, the national government spent a total of P230.42 billion in subsidies to GOCCs, the highest since 1986 when the government started collecting data. The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation cornered the biggest allocation during the pandemic year, receiving P62.4 billion or 27 percent of the total subsidies released during the period.