CORRECTED-Danish banks draw 37 bln DKK from c.bank facility

(Corrects draw-down figure in headline, first bullet and lead to 37 bln Danish crowns from 53.2 bln)

* Danish banks draw 37 bln DKK from 3-yr lending operation * Facility is the second of two facilities offered to banks * Loans aimed at helping banks get off state aid

COPENHAGEN, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Danish banks drew 37 billion Danish crowns ($6.4 billion) on Friday from a three-year lending facility offered by the central bank to help boost their liquidity and get them off state aid.

Danish banks are facing a 2013 deadline to pay back around 87 billion crowns of state-guaranteed loans which they took during the financial crisis that began in late 2008.

The banking sector has been stung by high write downs in the wake of a burst property bubble and loans to struggling farmers and the country has taken 11 banks into state hands since the start of the financial crisis.

Lenders had been expected to draw up to 50 billion Danish crowns from the operation, although estimates ranged widely.

The country's biggest bank Danske Bank said on Thursday it planned to draw 20 billion Danish crowns as the rate was reasonable.

The bank grabbed 4 billion euros of three-year loans from the European Central Bank in February to boost its liquidity ahead of tighter regulations.

The long term refinancing operation from the Danish central bank is carried out in two steps, of which the first was offered in March when the banks drew a total of 18.9 billion, far below the 200 billion crowns forecast by analysts.

Announcing the three-year credit facility in December, the Nationalbank said the rate of interest would be variable, reflecting the bank's seven-day monetary policy lending rate.

The loan carries an interest rate equal to the Nationalbank's main lending rate which is currently 0.20 percent.

The operation mirrors on a smaller scale the European Central Bank's second offering of three-year funding at the end of February when banks took a huge 530 billion euros ($706.06 billion) in the low-rate funds which was seen a success.

The loans, which will be provided against collateral specified by the central bank, will supplement the bank's seven-day and six-month credit facilities.

The facility also help address high funding costs, a particular problem for smaller Danish banks, which were frozen out of international markets last year as market turmoil escalated and investors grew increasingly worried about their health. ($1 = 5.7946 Danish crowns)

(Reporting by Mette Fraende)

((mette.fraende@thomsonreuters.com)(+4533969649)(Reuters

Messaging: mette.fraende.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: DENMARK BANKS/