The national government’s subsidies to government-owned and -controlled corporations in the first seven months of 2023 rose 16.7 percent versus the year ago level, data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.
According to the latest cash operations report, subsidies in January to July totaled to P96.94 billion, up from the P83.07 billion recorded in the same period a year ago.
The lion’s share of the subsidies released to state-run firms, amounting to P37.68 billion, went to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
The subsidy support to PhilHealth is often allocated for the payment of health insurance premiums of indigent beneficiaries.
Other top recipients as of end-July are the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) with P25.8 billion, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. with P5 billion, National Food Authority with P4.71 billion and the National Housing Authority (NHA) with P4.53 billion.
In July alone, subsidies to state-firms amounted to P33.24 billion, posting a 9.62 percent increase from the P30.32 billion recorded in the same month a year ago.
PhilHealth received the largest chunk with P22.65 billion.
Aside from PhilHealth, other billionaire recipients for the month are NIA with P3.99 billion, NHA with P3.33 billion and the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority with P1.29 billion.
The BTr earlier reported that the national government’s budget deficit significantly shrank in July as the growth in revenues outpaced that of expenditures.
The budget shortfall in July stood at P47.8 billion, 44.89 percent down from the P86.8 billion a year ago on the back of the 33.4 percent growth in revenue collection versus the 16.22 percent increase in government expenditures.
The year-to-date fiscal performance resulted in a cumulative budget gap of P599.5 billion, also down by 21.22 percent compared to the P761 billion shortfall registered in the first seven months of the previous year. – Angela Celis
