Gov't subsidies up 50% to P23.8B in first 10 mos

MANILA, Philippines - Subsidies extended to government-owned or controlled corporations increased by almost P8 billion or 50 percent to P23.8 billion during the first 10 months of the year from a year ago, data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed.

The increase was due mainly to the releases for fuel requirements of the Small Power Utilities Group or sitio electrification projects, the DBM said.

The government also subsidized the rehabilitation of Light Rail Transit Lines and provided “premium subsidy” for indigents under the National Health Insurance Program.

“Some P4.2 billion of these releases were due to the Disbursement Acceleration Plan,” data from the DBM said.

Similarly, the government spent P11.3 billion for the equity to GOCCs during the period. Of the amount, P10 billion went to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas while the rest went to other GOCCs.

Despite these and other releases during the 10-month period, government spending remained below last year’s level, hitting only P1.195 trillion or 5.40 percent lower than the P1.263 trillion it spent in the same period last year.

However, in October alone, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said spending already increased to P125.2 billion, up 14.8 percent from P109 billion a year ago.

“Aside from posting the third highest magnitude of monthly disbursements this year, the government’s disbursement performance in October was also closest to target, being less than five percent below it,” Abad said.

During the month, he said infrastructure and capital outlays posted a huge 23.5 percent year-on-year growth to P14.3 billion as compared to P11.6 billion on the same period last year. It also increased remarkably from just the P11.9 billion on September 2011.

“The Disbursement Acceleration Plan approved by President Aquino, coupled with agencies’ continuing efforts to catch-up on regular spending, contributed significantly to the significant improvement in the government’s performance in October,” Abad said.