PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - Aug 7

HANOI, Aug 7 (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:

TUOI TRE

-- The Vietnam Bank Association held a meeting with member banks in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss plans to cut deposit rates.

-- Depositors would shift short-term deposits to longer term as several banks started cutting rates on short-term deposits.

-- The government is ready to interfere and stabilise the foreign exchange market as the foreign reserves kept by the State Bank of Vietnam are larger than the total deposits in foreign currencies in the country plus its short-term debt, said Le Xuan Nghia, head of the central bank's Banking Strategy Department.

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THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- The Debt and Asset Trading Corporation showed interest in the case of Bach Tuyet Cotton Corporation BBT.HM but it had not received any offer from both Bach Tuyet and the company's lender.

ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:

HANOI MOI

-- An estimated 7,000 people demanded that their gender be re-classified during a Health Ministry survey.

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SAIGON GIAI PHONG

-- Ho Chi Minh City government said it aimed to eradicate poverty in the city by the end of this year.