PRESS DIGEST - Singapore newspapers - Mar 10

SINGAPORE, March 10 (Reuters) - The following are stories from Singapore newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories.

THE STRAITS TIMES

- Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to hire 200 private bankers over the next two years to serve the growing number of wealthy people in the booming Southeast Asian and Australasian markets.

The Swiss bank is also the latest major private bank to offer a full suite of Singapore-dollar products to a fast-growing population of rich people in the city-state.

- Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the view among Singaporeans that the government is sufficiently rich to issue more handouts to residents is "dangerous".

- Lee said it is not clear how alleged Islamic militant Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from a detention centre in the city-state, but admitted the escape was "undoubtedly a setback and it should never have happened".

- A poll of 20 shopping malls along Singapore's main shopping belt showed that 18 have raised parking charges by between 10-20 percent.

THE BUSINESS TIMES

- Local banks have cut their fixed deposit rate, with DBS Bank (DBSM.SI: Quote, Profile, Research) slashing its rate to 0.9 percent for a 12-month deposit, less than half of the 2.02 percent it offered on Jan 2.