HANOI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's central bank has cut rates for open market operations (OMO) for the first time since 2014 to help commercial banks lower lending interest rates.

The OMO rates were lowered to 4.75 percent per year from the previous 5 percent, commercial banks said on Monday.

According to local experts, the slight decrease in OMO rates will not have profound impact due to modest transactions on OMO last year. However, this is considered a market demand booster given approaching Lunar New Year, which is also payment and consumption peak time.

Over the past few days, major Vietnamese commercial banks have announced reductions in their lending interest rates this year as proposed by the government to spur economic growth.

Vietnam's credit growth is much likely to stand at 18-19 percent in 2018, similar to the rates in the last three years, according to the country's National Financial Supervisory Commission.