The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection said important, commendable and useful that availability of information on relief to victims of disastrous floods has improved.

The official website of the Ministry of Finance now also includes information on the current balance and the total amount of funds paid to the account of the Ministry since the collection began, with separately presented amount of payments made through mobile telephony operators, while the official website of the Office for Reconstruction and Flood Relief provides information on awarded government relief which, when cross-checked against the figures published by the Ministry of Finance, seem to indicate that the funds have not been used for any payments other than those made through the Office.

Of course, there is still much room for increasing transparency and this is why it is very important to ensure that this improvement in availability of information marks a permanent shift in the way public funds are managed, not only in this particular case. By regular publishing of updated information concerning management of public funds on a proactive basis, without waiting for a specific request, public authorities can properly achieve two important objectives. Firstly, to comply with their duty to the public stipulated under the law by regular "rendering of accounts", and secondly, to ensure and improve citizens' trust in the work of public authorities.