HANOI, June 25 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

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FINANCIAL NEWS:

VIETNAM NEWS

-- The Hanoi Securities Trading Center <.HASTCI> could impose a trading band of 10 percent for unlisted shares to be traded on an over-the-counter market run by the Hanoi exchange, according to drafts prepared by the State Securities Commission, the HASTC and the Finance Ministry.

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TUOI TRE

-- The State Securities Commission said it has fined partly private Toan Cau Bank for violations in issuing shares.

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THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- Partly private Sacombank <STB.HM> said it has raised the interest rate on dong deposits to 18.48 percent per year as from Monday and also increased the rate on dollar deposits to 7 percent for terms from six months or longer.

-- Prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked the Finance Ministry to set a total volume of shares to be issued each month to balance supply and demand on the stock market.

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DAU TU CHUNG KHOAN

-- Gross earnings of partly private Maritime Bank reached nearly 175 billion dong ($10.6 million) as of June 19, or 73 percent of the bank's gross profit for the whole year of 2007.

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ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:

NHAN DAN

-- A 3.7-Richter-scale earthquake occurred in the sea about 100 km (62 miles) east of the port of Haiphong on Tuesday, but there was no damage reported, scientists said.

-- About 1,400 people were infected with dengue fever in the past week in 27 cities and provinces nationwide, the Health Ministry said. At least four have died.

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SAIGON GIAI PHONG

-- Military-run mobile phone service provider Viettel said it had signed up 20 million subscribers, becoming the country's largest mobile phone operator. Viettel said it planned to expand capacity to handle 50 million subscribers by the end of 2008.

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THANH NIEN

-- Vietnam has about 10,000 new drug addicts each year, the Police Ministry said.

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THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- Vietnam will raise the export tax on steel billets to 10 percent as from June 28, versus 2 percent now, according to a Finance Ministry directive as it sought to prevent the re-exports of the material which could harm domestic production.

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DAU TU

-- Vietnam has delayed the issue of its sovereign bonds and the government also decided to cut 25 percent of its investment using funds from government bonds issued on domestic markets this year, Finance Minister Vu Van Ninh said.

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