Brazil central bank may sell reverse swaps on Tues

SAO PAULO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank said on Friday it may sell reverse currency swaps next Tuesday to roll over a similar batch of paper valued at $450 million that is maturing on March 1.

The bank said it would make a decision after consulting with market dealers on Monday.

The last time the central bank auctioned reverse swaps was on Jan. 23, when it sold $741.8 million of the securities.

The swaps are linked to short-term interest rates and were originally sold to prevent Brazil's currency, the real (BRBY), from strengthening too much against the U.S. dollar.

Exporters have complained that the strong real, which rallied to a nine-month high this week, may hurt foreign sales.

The swaps allow investors to buy exposure to Brazil's lofty benchmark interest rate of 13 percent without having to purchase reais.

The real closed 0.72 percent weaker on Friday at 2.109 to the dollar after the central bank aggressively bought greenbacks on the spot foreign exchange market.