HANOI, March 4 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories.

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FINANCIAL NEWS:

TUOI TRE

-- Vietnam will buy up to 200,000 tonnes of rubber for stockpiling purposes, equal to 25 percent of this year's total output, if the price in domestic market falls below $1,000 per tonne, said Tran Thi Thuy Hoa, the general secretary of the Vietnam Rubber Association.

-- The Vietnam Steel Association will propose the government raise import tariffs on steel products to 17 percent from 12 percent to help domestic makers compete against rivals from Russia and Ukraine, said chairman Pham Chi Cuong.

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LAO DONG

-- Dong deposit rates on all terms started rising in recent weeks following higher demand for dong funds by banks.

-- The Finance Ministry said import tariffs on spare parts for automobiles would be cut to 15 percent from the current 20 percent, effective from Monday.

ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:

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NHAN DAN

-- The bird flu outbreak in the Mekong Delta provinces could still spread quickly, the agriculture ministry's Animal Health Department warned.

-- The central bank said more than 93 trillion dong ($5.3 billion) had been disbursed under the governemnt's soft loan programme to spur economic growth.

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LAO DONG

-- The target of creating 1.7 million new jobs this year will prove difficult to achieve given the economic slowdown, said labour minister Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

-- Rice exporters planned to ship 3.4 million tonnes of rice in the first six months this year, up from 2.44 million tonnes in the same period last year, the trade ministry said.

- - - - (Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom)

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