Czech Republic declared a donor country

The Czech Republic was to be officially declared a donor country Tuesday at a financial conference attended by World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz.

Photo: Czech Republic declared a donor country

"In fact I'm here today to celebrate the graduation of the Czech Republic from World Bank," Wolfowitz told reporters after meeting Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek in Prague Tuesday.

"The Czech Republic will no longer be a recipient of World Bank assistance but will be in fact a donor," Wolfowitz said.

The announcement was to be made later on Tuesday at the Institutional Foundations for Sound Finance forum discussing new forms of bank regulation.

Czechoslovakia was one of the founders of the World Bank in 1994, but its communist government withdrew from the institution in mid 1950s. The country joined World Bank again in 1990, shortly after the demise of the communist regime.

Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, reports the AP.