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Czech National Bank Governor Zdenek Tuma urges government to proceed to the next stage of fiscal reforms. Czech business and consumer confidence worsens in September. Small coin withdrawal not expected to accelerate inflation. Dutch imaging company Oce considers moving printer assembly to Czech Republic.

A few days ago, the Czech National Property Fund introduced a new project to establish a legal framework for Public Private Partnership. In this week's Economics Report, we discuss this alternative method of government procurement with the chairman of the executive committee of the National Property Fund, Jan Juchelka.

Parliament debates fiscal reforms. Foreign trade deficits narrows to 7 billion CZK. A 27-percent stake in Czech Telecom up for sale. EIB lends 75 million euros for construction of Prague Metro.

Czech central government debt reaches nearly 20 percent of GDP. Retail sales continue to grow. PM says latest real wage growth unsustainable. Japan's Steel Europe Center to build a new plant in Humpolec. Lukoil not interested in Unipetrol, leaving Czech market. Small vendors of electric appliances unite to fight retail chains. Anglian Water seeks to sell stakes in Czech water utilities. Falkon Capital to lose contract for recovering Russian debt. Russia offers old trains to offset part of its debt to the Czech Republic. Foreigners employed in the

The Czech government's trade promotion agency, CzechTrade, the Czech branch of the international audit and consultancy company Deloitte & Touche and the consultancy firm Adwise have launched a new service for Czech companies - a practical training course aimed at helping companies with gathering information about foreign markets, building knowledge management systems, and improving their presentation skills.

Czech industrial output rises but less than expected. Development bank urges Czechs to sell state companies. Unemployment reaches "psychological barrier" of 10 percent. Czech economy shows weak performance amid continuing deflation. Central bank to harmonise interest rates on commercial banks' accounts. DHL is to build a European IT centre in Czech Republic.

On August 22, 2003, a new tram line was opened in Tacoma, Washington. The trams are supplied by the Czech companies Skoda Inekon. In this week's edition of Economics Report, we talk to Martin Tlapa, the head of the Czech government's trade promotion agency, CzechTrade, about trams and trolleybuses as a traditional Czech export article.

The Czech cabinet has failed to agree on the 2004 draft state budget. The government's factoring agency, Konsolidacni Agentura, has said it will offer investors 40-50 billion Czech crowns worth of non-performing assets. Former defence minister has been appointed chairman of Czech Airlines. Russia is considering raising duty on Czech Skoda cars by 6 percent. Skoda Auto has been negotiating with the Kazakh government about building a car production plant in Kazakhstan.

Trade Unions have been stepping up their protests against fiscal reforms planned by the government. Central Bank governor has encouraged the cabinet to go ahead with the reforms. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance said the Czech Republic will show the biggest fiscal deficit in its history this year. The dominant Czech telephone operator, Czech Telecom, will lay off 1,800 workers by the end of the year. The Czech foreign trade balance fell into a higher than expected deficit in July. Every tenth Czech household defaults on its loans.

Czech wages grew by almost 7 percent on average in the second quarter, after a nearly 8-percent increase the first quarter. The Czech Statistics Office said on Tuesday that the average monthly wage rose to just over 17,000 crowns (or 570 US dollars). The rapid wage growth, coupled with almost zero inflation and record low borrowing costs, has fuelled a consumer boom and this has driven the Czech economy in past quarters.