Subsidies extended by the national government to state-owned firms declined in August, data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed, with the bulk extended to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

Twenty-one government-owned and -controlled corporations got a total of P4.98-billion assistance during the month, shrinking by 84.31 percent from P31.80 billion in August 2019.

NIA secured P2.60 billion last month. The agency is responsible for irrigation development and management in the country.

The Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. came in second in subsidies received with P1.32 billion and Small Business Corp. was at third with P500 million.

Also securing assistance in August were the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority, Bases Conversion Development Authority, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Credit Information Corp., Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, Development Academy of the Philippines, Lung Center of the Philippines, National Dairy Authority, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine Coconut Authority, Philippine Center for Economic Development, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, Philippine Heart Center, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Philippine Institute for Development Studies, Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care, People’s Television Network Inc., and Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority.

Year-to-date, government subsidies soared by 98.83 percent to P192.45 billion from the year-ago figure.

The Social Security System (SSS) got the biggest allocation during the eight-month period with P51 billion. It can be noted that SSS was the implementing agency of the P51-billion Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) program.

Launched in April, the SBWS program provided 3.1 million workers in the formal sector employed in micro, small and medium enterprises P5,000 to P8,000 wage subsidies for the month of April and May. The amount of the subsidies depends on the regions where the workers are employed.

In 2019, the government gave away a record P201.52 billion in subsidies.

Subsidies are part of the national government’s disbursement program.

State spending in August was up by 0.38 percent to P283.3 billion from P282.2 billion a year ago, boosting the year-to-date figure by 20.79 percent to P2.67 trillion.

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