The national government’s subsidies to government-owned and -controlled corporations in the first eight months of 2024 fell by 24.89 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 August totaled to P87.03 billion, down from the P115.86 billion recorded in the same period a year ago.
The lion’s share of the subsidies released to state-run firms, amounting to P48.89 billion, went to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) which is responsible for irrigation development and management.
Aside from NIA, other billionaire recipients are the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. with P8 billion, National Housing Authority with P3.8 billion, Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) with P2.8 billion and the National Food Authority with P2.25 billion.
In August alone, government subsidies to state firms fell by 51.93 percent to P9.1 billion from the P18.93 billion a year ago.
NIA remains as the top recipient for the month, receiving P5.6 billion.
Meanwhile, the only other billionaire recipient aside from NIA is PCIC with P1.9 billion.
Earlier, the BTr reported that the national government’s budget deficit narrowed in August as government spending inched down year-on-year.
The national government incurred a P54.2 billion budget deficit in August 2024, lower by 59.24 percent or P78.8 billion compared with the P133 billion shortfall incurred a year ago.
The government saw a lower budget deficit for the month amid the 24.4 percent growth in government revenues, while expenditures saw a 0.68 percent contraction.
This trimmed the year-to-date budget deficit of P697 billion by 4.86 percent from the P732.5 billion budget gap in the previous year, equivalent to 46.95 percent of the P1.5 trillion full-year program for 2024.
