PRESS DIGEST - Singapore newspapers - Oct 24

SINGAPORE Oct 24 (Reuters) - The following are stories from Singapore newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories.

THE STRAITS TIMES

- Demand for mail delivery services may be hit by the fallout from the current economic and financial turbulence, said Lee Boon Yang, minister for information, communications and the arts.

Singapore Post (SPOS.SI) is the dominant provider of mail delivery services in Singapore.

- Energy firm Ezra Holdings (EZRA.SI) has hit back at a Citigroup research note that said its stock was "a sell" and "high risk".

Ezra said "a quick check with a couple of analysts showed that they are comfortable with the guidance given by management".

- Oil firms cut pump prices on Thursday, sending petrol rates below S$2 ($1.33) a litre for the first time in three years.

- The wages for senior civil servants may fall next year as the economy slows. A "significant portion" of civil servants' salaries are tied to the growth of Singapore's economy.

- Two people charged with taking part in an illegal assembly in March were fined on Thursday after they pleaded guilty.

BUSINESS TIMES

- The free trade agreement between Singapore and China will see tariffs for almost all goods moving between the two countries abolished from January.

- Average rents for prime retail space in Singapore's shopping district Orchard Road, and at suburban malls could fall 5 to 15 percent in 2009, said Sherene Sng, Knight Frank's head of retail. ($1=1.505 Singapore Dollar)