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Czech Republic among most bureaucratic of OECD counties for doing business; Inflation hit two-year high this August; Czech Finance Minister rejects French proposal on EU structural funds; Current account deficit up 15.2bn crowns from Q1 2004; Building entrepreneurs rally against CEZ electricity price hike.

The Czech Republic's sovereign credit rating has been steadily increasing since the 1990s. So when the ratings agency Standard & Poor's late last week moved to take the country down a peg sent the country's economists and politicians into a minor analytic frenzy.

Draft law on electronic communications foresees mobile number portability; Anti-monopoly office takes more action on building & loans; Gov't to issue 20bn crown bond issue; Education Minister to push for tax incentives for donors to universities.

The speaker of the lower house of parliament, a Social Democrat, has been assigned the task of drawing up a recommended "Code of Ethics" for MPs. The goal is to put an end to vote "buying" and to establish rules for dealing with lobbyists and business interests. The move came immediately after an MP in the Social Democrat-led government coalition, in an off-the-record interview that was nonetheless published, accused the main opposition Civic Democrats of offering him a 10-million-crown bribe to vote against the government in a confidence vote.

India is losing ground to 'New Europe' as the preferred destination for Western European companies looking to outsource 'nearshore' services rather than 'offshore' them. The Czech Republic is holding its own in the battle for the business. Mark Fernandes has the story.

Heads of companies whose securities are traded on the Czech capital markets will have to make public their remunerations; MP Lubomir Zaoralek has been given responsibility for drawing up a recommended code of conduct for legislators; SachsenFonds buys four office blocks for EUR 125 million; Employment agencies no longer allowed to contract out students for short-term project-based work.

"Investors in People" is a certified standard that sets out a level of best practice for training and development of people to achieve business goals. The IIP standard was developed during 1990 by the U.K. government in partnership with leading national businesses, personnel, professional and employee organisations. Today the standard has been adopted in scores of countries around the world and is being introduced to the Czech Republic.

IMF annual report on the Czech Republic sees favourable near-term outlook, Coalition gov't split on social security and rent deregulation; one-third of real estate companies expected to close by mid-2005; Foreign investor interest in Vitkovice Steel heats up.

It's been just over 100 days since the Czech Republic joined the European Union. In this week's Business Report, we talk to Vaclav Smejkal of the European Consulting Institute about how well-prepared — or unprepared — Czech entrepreneurs were ahead of accession and how they've fared thus far in the expanded EU.

Spending and tax relief proposals in gov't policy agenda axed; U.K. and Irish data show no 'flood' of jobseekers from new EU states; Income gap in Czech Republic widening fast