SUBSIDIES to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) fell last year compared to 2022, Bureau of the Treasury data showed.

At P165.53 billion, the budgetary support was 17.4 percent lower than the year-earlier P200.4 billion based on the Treasury's latest cash operations report.

Subsidies totaled P10.5 billion in December alone, 67.3 percent lower than the P32.07 billion recorded in the same month in 2022.

Government financial institutions received P629 million last year, up from 2022's P438 million. They received P143 million in December from zero in the previous month.

Subsidies to major non-financial state firms, meanwhile, dropped to P74.7 billion from 2022's P77.5 billion. The P3.53 billion given in December was also down from P4.6 billion in November.

The tally for other state-owned firms narrowed to P88.2 billion from P122.5 billion. In December alone, these firms received P6.8 billion, higher than the P2.12 billion in November.

Philippine Health Insurance Corp. again took the lion's share of subsidies at P50.75 billion last year, although this was lower than the P80.05 billion recorded in 2022.

It was followed by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) at P40.74 billion and the National Housing Authority at P18.27 billion.

Rounding up last year's top five were the National Food Authority at P10.18 billion and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) at P8 billion.

In December alone, PSALM received the highest subsidy of P3 billion, from zero in the previous month, and was followed by NIA at P2.3 billion.