PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - January 2

HANOI, Jan 2 (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.

- - - -

VIETNAM NEWS

-- The floods, hail, landslides and storms that hit 50 provinces and cities last year caused 11.6 trillion dong ($725 million) in damage, or 1 percent of gross domestic product, the General Statistics Office said. About 435 people had been killed and 850 were listed missing or injured, it said.

-- The Hanoi Securities Trading Center .HASTCI has proposed raising the required deposit investors have to make in initial public offerings to 20-30 percent from 10 percent to limit winning bidders from giving up taking the shares.

- - - -

SAIGON GIAI PHONG

-- The purchasing power in Ho Chi Minh City supermarkets has risen 15 percent to 40 percent on Jan. 1, 2008 from a year earlier, in line with operators' expectation.

- - - -