1Q subsidies to state firms higher

State subsidies to non-financial government corporations rose in the first quarter, the Department of Finance said.

Data from the department showed the amount extended to those entities reached P2.23 billion, or about 8 percent higher than the P2.071 billion in aid the national government extended in the same three-month period last year.

In March alone, subsidies reached P846 million, down from P974 million last year.

The bulk of the subsidy this year went to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) at P892 million as the government aims to increase its palay procurement this year. The government aims to procure one million metric tons of palay from local farmers. This will “help raise farmers’ incomes and significantly reduce our dependence on imports,” the Department of Agriculture had said.

The government spent another P500 million for the National Housing Authority while the The Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center of the Philippines and Philippine Children’s Medical Center received a combined P172-million in budgetary support.

Besides subsidies, the national government also infused equity into Home Guaranty Corp. to the tune of P200 million.

National Power Corp. secured P1.06 billion in net lending, followed by Light Rail Transit Administration at P959 million.

Net lending refers to advances by the national government for the servicing of state-guaranteed debt during the year.

Expenditures at end-March picked up 16.4 to P355 billion from last year’s P305.1 billion, as the government cranked up spending to cushion the country from the impact of the global economic slowdown. For March alone, expenditures rose 24.4 percent to P128.6 billion.

The government incurred a P119.7-billion financing gap in the first quarter, higher than the programmed deficit of P110.1 billion for the quarter, and more than double last year’s P51.6 billion.– Lailany P. Gomez, Manila Times