PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - July 10

HANOI, July 10 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

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FINANCIAL NEWS:

VIETNAM NEWS

-- The State Bank of Vietnam has urged heads of commercial banks to closely monitor interest rates, exchange rates, loans and foreign currency to help stabilise the market.

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TUOI TRE

-- The Vietnam Steel Corporation has asked the Industry and Trade Ministry to raise the export tax on steel billets to 30 percent from 10 percent now, to limit sales.

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THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- FPT Software, wholly owned by FPT Corporation FPT.HM, said it had established a software subsidiary in Malaysia.

-- The State Bank of Vietnam has licensed the Vietnam Electricity Finance Company, funded by state utility Vietnam Electricity group, partly private ABBank and Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation REE.HM. The firm has a registered capital of 2.5 trillion dong ($151 million).

-- The total value of 68 property items owned by partly private Sacombank STB.HM nationwide has jumped 97.74 percent from the bank's initial investment to 1.6 trillion dong ($97 million), real estate agent Savills Vietnam said.

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ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:

VIETNAM NEWS