HANOI, Feb 3 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

FINANCIAL NEWS:

LAO DONG

-- The Hanoi Stock Exchange said it would auction a combined 5 trillion dong ($237.75 million) of bonds for state-owned Vietnam Expressway Corp and the Vietnam Development Bank next week.

-- Vinamilk, Vietnam's leading diary product maker, said it would buy back 50,870 shares between February 2-31 to raise the total treasury shares to 298,010.

ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:

TUOI TRE

-- The Vietnam Gas Association has sought permission from the prime minister and the Finance Ministry to lower the import tax on gas to 2 percent from 5 percent, Chairman Nguyen Si Thang said.

THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM

-- New telephone subscriptions in January rose 15.4 percent from the same period last year to 832,200, raising the total number as of January 31 to 134 million, the government's General Statistics Office said.

-- Vietnam received an estimated 630,000 foreign tourists in January, a 24.8 percent rise from the same period last year, government data showed.

-- Vietnam's fertiliser demand is forecast to be about 9.6 million tonnes this year, while domestic output is estimated at 7 million tonnes, so the country must import to meet the demand, said the Industry and Trade Ministry.

($1=20,940 dong)

(Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom) Keywords: VIETNAM PRESS

(hanoi.newsroom@reuters.com)(+844 3825 9623)

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