HANOI, Oct 9 (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

-- Bankers proposed to further cut dong deposit rates by up to 1 percentage point as part of effortS to lower borrowing costS, they said at a meeting with the Vietnam Banks Association on Wednesday.

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THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- Partly private Eximbank said it raised dollar deposit rates to 6 percent from 5.7 percent from Wednesday.

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LAO DONG

-- The State Bank of Vietnam has required banks to provide sufficient funds to fertiliser importers to meet domestic demand for the country's rice crops next year.

ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:

VIETNAM NEWS

-- Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will pay a two-day visit to Australia from Oct. 13 at the invitation of his counterpart, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

-- The United States and Vietnam have agreed to liberalise civil aviation relations through an 'Open Skies' arrangement for all cargo services.

-- State oil group Petrovietnam is negotiating with British Petroleum <BP.L> and Royal Dutch Shell Plc <RDSa.L> on the long-term supply of crude oil to the country's first oil refinery, the 140,000-bpd Dung Quat plant.

-- Exports to Germany are expected to reach a record $2 billion this year while imports from the country are estimated at $1 billion, making Germany one of Vietnam's biggest trading partners in the European Union.

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TUOI TRE

-- Police detained five people on Wednesday in the central highland province of Dak Nong over accusations that they were growing cannabis on their pepper and corn farm.

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THANH NIEN

-- Four tropical storms this year have directly hit northern mountainous and central Vietnam provinces, killing 175 people and causing losses of more than 3 trillion dong ($182 million), the Agriculture Ministry said.

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THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- Vietnam has so far received $201 million from donors out of the $250 million needed for its national bird flu prevention campaign for the 2006-2010 period, officials said.

-- Banks in Vietnam have had to offer high rates for very short-term deposits in recent months, against their will, due to high inflation and weak market liquidity, Tran Bac Ha, chairman of state-run bank BIDV, told a banking meeting on Wednesday.

- - - - (Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom)

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