Brazil's central bank sells $1.47 bln in swaps

SAO PAULO, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank offered dollar swaps on Monday for the first time in more than two years, selling $1.47 billion of $2.1 billion on offer in an auction.

The bank sold the swaps in a bid to quench surging demand for dollars in the foreign exchange market as a deepening global financial crisis prompted investors to flock to the greenback.

Brazil's currency, the real (BRBY), weakened a hefty 5.4 percent before the auction to 2.163 per dollar, its lowest since December 2006.

The last time Brazil's central bank sold dollar swaps was in May 2006. (Reporting by Fabio Gehrke; Writing by Todd Benson; Editing by James Dalgleish)