The national government’s subsidies to government-owned and -controlled corporations as of end-October rose by 2.09 percent, data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.
According to the latest cash operations report, subsidies in January to October totaled to P154.24 billion, up from the P151.08 billion recorded in the same period a year ago.
The lion’s share of the subsidies released to state-run firms, amounting to P64.09 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.
The National Irrigation Administration (NIA), which is responsible for irrigation development and management, is the second biggest recipient for the period with P36.37 billion.
The National Housing Authority (NHA) completes the list of top three recipients for the month with P13.66 billion.
Other major recipients are the National Food Authority (NFA) with P6.61 billion and the National Power Corp. (Napocor) with P6.14 billion.
In October alone, subsidies to state-firms amounted to P39.98 billion, significantly higher than the year ago level of P5.21 billion.
PhilHealth was the top recipient for the month with P19.16 billion.
Other billionaire recipients are NIA with P6.95 billion, NHA with P4.72 billion, Napocor with P4.03 billion and NFA, P1.97 billion.
The BTr reported last Friday that the budget deficit rose to P99.1 billion in October 2022, 54.08 percent higher compared to P64.3 billion for the same period last year.
