The national government’s subsidies to government-owned and -controlled corporations in the first seven months of of 2024 fell by 19.61 percent year-on-year, data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.
According to the latest cash operations report posted on the BTr’s website, subsidies in January to July totaled to P77.93 billion, down from the P96.93 billion recorded in the same period a year ago.
The lion’s share of the subsidies released to state-run firms, amounting to P43.29 billion, went to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), which is responsible for irrigation development and management.
Meanwhile, aside from NIA, other billionaire recipients are the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. with P8 billion, National Housing Authority with P3.75 billion, National Food Authority with P2.25 billion and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) with P2.23 billion.
In July alone, government subsidies to state firms fell by 67.75 percent to P10.72 billion from the P33.24 billion a year ago.
NIA was the top recipient for the month, receiving P6.76 billion.
Meanwhile, the only other billionaire recipient aside from NIA is BCDA with P2.23 billion.
The BTr earlier reported that the national government’s budget deficit narrowed in the month of July due to the double-digit growth in revenues.
The budget deficit for July 2024 declined by 39.67 percent year-on-year to P28.8 billion, driven by faster revenue growth of 11.09 percent compared to the 5.8 percent increase in expenditures.
The resulting year-to-date budget gap stood at P642.8 billion, up by 7.21 percent from the same period last year.
The BTr data also showed that as of end-July, dividends remitted by state firms to the National Treasury totaled to P96.45 billion. The largest contributors are Land Bank of the Philippines with P32.12 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas with P13.23 billion and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. with P10.68 billion. Meanwhile, the Philippine Ports Authority contributed P5.06 billion while the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. remitted P4.6 billion.