* Analysts forecast $6.2 billion deficit
* Jan-Feb deficit jumps to $12.073 billion
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ISTANBUL, April 11 (Reuters) - Turkey's current account deficit surged 127 percent year-on-year to $6.127 billion in February, less than forecast but illustrating the challenge faced by the government to rein it in.
In a Reuters poll of 13 analysts the median forecast was for a $6.2 billion deficit.
In the first two months of the year the deficit, a key weak point in Turkey's otherwise positive economic outlook, widened to $12.073 billion from $5.758 billion a year earlier, the Central Bank data showed.
"The foreign trade deficit, which jumped 151.4 percent to reach $5.937 billion in February, was the biggest factor in the current account deficit rise," a statement from the bank said.
Last year, the deficit widened 247 percent to a record high of $48.557 billion, some 6.7 percent of GDP.
In 2011 as a whole, the current account was expected to show a deficit of $59.2 billion and many predict the deficit could hit 7.5-8 percent of GDP this year.
Fears about the deficit have been fuelled by rising oil prices. Turkey imports around 95 percent of its crude and gas needs. (Writing by Daren Butler; editing by Stephen Nisbet)