Turkey's exports in August rose nine percent year-on-year reaching 8.6 billion U.S. dollars while imports recorded a 20.5 percent year-on-year rise, according to official data released on Thursday. Though the exports in August rose year-on-year, it recorded a 10.8 percent monthly decline, according to figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute. The performance of exports was pleasing, and the monthly decrease was caused by seasonal factors, said Turkish State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan. 'These figures show that we can easily reach the 107.5 billion dollar exports target set in the mid-term economic program,' Caglayan said in a press release. In August, Turkey's imports surged 20.5 percent year-on-year and reached 15.4 billion dollars, resulting in a 38.4 percent annual rise in trade deficit to 6.8 billion dollars, according to the institute. Intermediate products constituted 70.8 percent of the rise in imports which showed the importance of the export oriented production, Caglayan said. In the first eight months this year, Turkey's exports to American countries rose 33.2 percent year-on-year while exports to Asian countries recorded a 24 percent rise, he said. Turkey has diversified its exports markets and seized the opportunities in American and Asian regions, Caglayan said. Turkey's economic growth slowed to an annual rate of 10.3 percent in the second quarter after an 11.7 percent expansion in the first quarter. It slumped by 4.7 percent last year as the global financial crisis dampened domestic and overseas demand. 