* February surplus falls short of forecasts
* Foreign net direct investment levels fall
ISTANBUL, April 10 (Reuters) - Turkey's current account showed a surplus of $343 million in February, official data showed on Friday, compared with a forecast of an $835 million surplus in a Reuters poll.
The current account had shown a surplus for the first time since 2008 in January, reflecting sharp falls in trade deficit and weak domestic demand and pointing to lower foreign funding requirements.
"This development is mainly attributable to the improvement in the foreign trade balance," the Turkish Central Bank said in a statement.
The figures were the latest in a slew of data underlining the extent of the slowdown in the Turkish economy, which contracted 6.2 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of last year and his heading deep into recession this year.
The trade balance showed a surplus of $780 million in February, compared with a deficit of $3.434 billion in the same period a year earlier.
The Turkish Central Bank said net direct investment inflow in January and February fell 28.4 percent from the same two-month period in 2008 to $1.167 billion.
Turkey's current account deficit stood at $3.871 billion in February last year. (Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Ron Askew)