CORRECTED-Argentina Q4 capital outflows slow vs previous quarter

* Foreign currency purchases fell after gov't controls

* Gov't currency controls aim to stem capital flight

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Capital outflows in Argentina slowed in the fourth quarter versus the previous quarter to $3.26 billion, but almost doubled during 2011 from a year earlier, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The cooling of capital outflows from $8.44 billion registered in the third quarter came after several government measures to boost dollar supplies and discourage capital flight, including new currency controls.

Foreign currency purchases shrank from $2.94 billion in October to $754 million in November and $605 million in December, "due to the currency regulations established in late October," the central bank said in a quarterly report.

Capital outflows totaled $21.5 billion in 2011 compared with $11.4 billion the year before, the central bank said. They reached $2.24 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The outflows, which are also referred to as capital flight or portfolio dollarization, include money sent abroad as well as dollars that are purchased and deposited in Argentine banks or stuffed under mattresses in Argentine homes.

Argentines sped up purchases of dollars in the run-up to the presidential election, betting the government would allow the Argentine peso to depreciate at a faster pace once the vote was over how to offset the impact of inflation.

But just days after winning re-election on Oct. 23, President Cristina Fernandez ordered energy and mining firms to cash in export revenues in the local market and ordered tax officials to approve dollar purchases on a case-by-case basis.

Both measures were designed to counter surging capital flight and boost the central bank's foreign currency reserves, which Fernandez has earmarked for debt repayments this year.

The new foreign exchange controls initially set off increased withdrawals of dollar deposits and did little to ease dollar demand.

But a crackdown on the "off-the-books" currency market and government pressure, have dampened demand since, helping the central bank replenish its depleted foreign reserves.

Analysts, however, say appetite for dollars could prompt new crackdowns and ad-hoc intervention in foreign trade and the currency market.