The country's graduation from the World Bank's list of beneficiaries will strengthen its image internationally but is unlikely to have serious economic ramifications, according to analysts.

The Czech Republic celebrated its graduation from the list of countries that receive World Bank financial support at a Feb. 28 ceremony attended by World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz. The event came almost a year after the World Bank changed the classification of this country from "developing" to "developed."

The shift means that the Czech Republic will no longer be entitled to loans from the World Bank, which provides financial support to poorer countries. The Czech Republic is now classified as a donor country that is expected to contribute to foreign aid projects.

While economic analysts said the classification is largely symbolic, political experts are more optimistic.

Martin Moravec, an analyst at Europlatform, an agency monitoring Czech and European economic and political developments, said it will raise the country's international prestige.

"The graduation will affect how the Czech Republic is perceived in the eyes of the rest of the world," he said.

Moravec continued: "As a small country, the Czech Republic remains something unknown and mysterious to many foreign investors. It has been viewed as an Eastern Bloc country with an underdeveloped economy. Now it will more and more be perceived as a market economy."

No plans to pay more

In his speech, Wolfowitz said the Czech Republic graduated from the World Bank thanks to the remarkable economic progress it has made since the 1989 revolution. Last year gross domestic product growth reached nearly 5 percent, making the economy one of the best performers in Europe, and the country posted its first year-end trade surplus in history.

The Czech Republic's advancement, Wolfowitz said, can be held up as an example to countries across the world.

Even before being reclassified as developed, the Czech Republic contributed to the World Bank. Since 1993 the Czech Republic has donated approximately $10 million to the bank's International Development Association, which provides aid to countries with an average per capita income of $1000 or less a year.

The country has also received $626 million in aid from three World Bank loans since 1991, the last of which should be paid back in 2007.

Analysts pointed out that losing access to these loans isn't a big deal because, over a period of 15 years, $626 million isn't much money.

"The practical ramifications will be very low," said David Navrátil of Česká spořitelna. "The news didn't have any impact on the financial market."

The country is under no obligation to increase its donations to the World Bank, as the agency doesn't require donor countries to contribute a certain amount.

"We hope countries will contribute more as they become richer," said Daniela Gressani, World Bank's director for Central Europe and the Baltic states. "It is not a rule, but it is an expectation we have."

The government has no plans to increase its donations soon, said Petra Krainová, spokeswoman for the Finance Ministry.

Compared with other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the Czech Republic has kept pace in the last decade in terms of donations. Hungary has donated $20 million and Slovenia, which graduated two years ago, $6 million.