ECB lends banks $15 bln in sixth dollar operation

FRANKFURT, April 8 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank lent euro zone banks $15 billion in 28-day funds on Tuesday, although banks bid for more than double that amount.

It is the sixth time the ECB has lent funds in dollars, after agreeing extra measures to provide liquidity to markets with other major central banks late last year.

The funds were lent at a fixed rate of 2.820 percent, the lowest successful bid rate in a similar Fed auction for U.S. banks.

The ECB said 32 banks bid for a total of $30.760 billion in funds and the ECB allotted the full $15 billion it had been lent by the U.S. Federal Reserve under a currency swap agreement.

The ECB also injected dollar liquidity into money markets in December and January, and announced on March 11 it would repeat the procedure.

* FOR THE FULL ECB ANNOUNCEMENT, SEE ECB28 (Reporting by Krista Hughes; Editing by David Stamp)