The Minister of Finance, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, has hinted that he will shock Ghanaians with the contents of next month's budget statement. He asked Ghanaians to expect "good things" in the 2010 budget statement he would present to Cabinet for approval and subsequent presentation to Parliament. The minister said the stability of the Ghana cedi against other major currencies, was on course, while the cost of borrowing was going down. The minister, who was addressing a round-table discussion on the 2010-2012 budget with major stakeholders in Accra Tuesday, would not comment further. Dr Duffuor stated that the meeting with the stakeholders was to enable him to share "a few critical national priority issues" with them so as to reach some consensus on the country's development agenda. "Over the weekend, I took my team on a retreat to review priorities of government as outlined in the National Medium-Term Development Programme,” he said. He said the ministry had held discussions with all Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) in preparation towards the government's medium-term expenditure framework and budget. Among the stakeholders present were representatives of the Ghana Trades Union Congress, the Ghana Employers' Association, the Bank of Ghana and the ministries of Trade and Agriculture. Source: The Ghanaian Times