Brazil buys $2.274 bln in forex market to Sept. 18

SAO PAULO, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank said on Wednesday it bought $2.274 billion worth of U.S. dollars on the spot foreign exchange this month to Sept. 18.

Dollar purchases, which are used by the central bank to ease fluctuations in Brazil's currency, the real BRBY, and remove excess foreign currency from financial markets, totaled nearly $13.06 billion since early May.

Dollar outflows from the country totaled $978 million this month to Sept. 18, compared with $2.957 billion of inflows last month, the bank said. (Reporting by Silvio Cascione; Writing by Luciana Lopez; Editing by James Dalgleish)