Anticipating troubled waters ahead for the Malaysian economy, DAP Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong has urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to relinquish his finance minister position to someone who can drive it full time.

Liew said that from the outside looking in, no one is sure anymore who is calling the shots on crucial economic decisions for the country. There are too many economic actors on the prime minister's team but no commanding voice to set a clear agenda, he noted.

"The practice of the prime minister doubling as finance minister is an unhealthy trend for the country’s economy. The complex and fragmented economic governing team is a clear signal that we have the wrong guy helming the Finance Ministry.

"The time has come for the appointment of a full-time finance minister to be the leading voice for sensible and coherent economic policies," Liew ( left ) said in a press statement today.

Najib took over as finance minister shortly before becoming the premier in 2008. The prime minister, doubling as finance minister, has mostly been an uninterrupted trend for over a decade since Daim Zainuddin quit in June 2001 after his second tour of duty, Liew noted.

Liew said that looking ahead, there are three big problems that could rock the Malaysian economy.

'Seemingly carved out economy'

This would be a potential slowdown due to subsidy withdrawals and the goods and services tax (GST), rising interest rates due to the US’ economic policy, and a potential property bubble due to the overbuilding of office towers and condominiums.

During Najib's time in power, the country's economy has sometimes been seemingly carved out to an 'economic team' that consists of politicians, former bankers, and private consultants, Liew said.

"It is farcical to see that Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin - who is also education minister - is now chairing the cabinet committee on the cost of living; as if the cost of living is not part of the economic/finance portfolio," he said.

The other economic actors with influence, he added, were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Performance Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu) CEO Idris Jala ( right ), Minister in the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) Abdul Wahid Omar, and many others.

To illustrate the government economic policy fragmentation, Liew noted that units - such as the economic council and the fiscal policy committee - also sometimes appeared to act outside the cabinet’s direction.