PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - Oct 18


FINANCIAL NEWS:VIETNAM NEWS— Vietnam’s public debt at the end of 2010 accounted for 57.3 percent of its gross domestic product, a safe level, the Finance Ministry said.LAO DONG— The central bank said it had sold $150 million in the foreign exchange market to strengthen the dong in the first week of October.THANH NIEN— Small banks are facing an alarming shortage of funds because depositors have withdrawn cash to deposit in large banks after the State Bank of Vietnam strictly monitored the deposit ceiling of 14 percent, bankers said.ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:NHAN DAN— Dung Quat oil refinery produced 3.67 million tonnes of products in the first nine months of the year, said state oil and gas PetroVietnam, the facility’s owner.HANOI MOI— Floods have killed 46 people in the Mekong Delta so far this month, while 7,000 families in central provinces were forced to evacuate, provincial authorities said.SAIGON GIAI PHONG— State utility Vietnam Electricity had a loss of 23.6 trillion dong ($1.13 billion) last year, said the Communist Party’s bureau that watches state-run businesses.TUOI TRE— The prime minister has pushed the Industry and Trade Ministry to publicise the prices that state utility Vietnam Electricity buys power from thermal and hydro-power plants in a move to bring more transparency to the electricity industry.— The southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau provincial authorities said they would revoke the license of an investment project valued at $1.3 billion due to stagnation.THANH NIEN— Vietnam is facing an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, said Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien. More than 71,000 people have been infected by the disease nationwide so far.($1=20,925 dong)

UPDATE 1-Schaeuble confident markets to be convinced by EU moves


Schaeuble told reporters in Paris that European countries have to do their homework largely on their own to meet the challenges at hand. He also said European banks should be helped, if necessary, with state means to strengthen their capital.Schaeuble said Germany and France were working together to resolve the debt crisis in Europe and the accompanying problems facing banks.”We have a joint position between Germany and France,” Schaeuble said after a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. “And we’re convinced that jointly we can also defend the euro as a stable currency.”Schaeuble said that he had a “very intensive” and open meeting with Sarkozy and French Finance Minister Francois Baroin. He said they had coordinated details so that ultimately a joint position on the question of boosting the capital of banks for all 27 European countries can be reached.”That is a joint French-German position,” Schaeuble said, without revealing any details. He said he was convinced that Germany and France have and will continue to pursue a close coordination on key questions.