(AFP) Malaysia's powerful finance minister said today he was still deciding whether to stay in his post after his mysterious two-month "holiday" ends.

Daim Zainuddin, asked by reporters if he plans to stay as finance minister, said: "It is too early to decide. I am still resting."

Since Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced April 19 that Daim was taking two months' leave because he may be "tired", there has been intense speculation the minister may quit.

Daim has been going into his office during his leave and attending some official functions, including an Asian Development Bank meeting in Hawaii this month.

But he has been skipping meetings of the cabinet and those of the ruling party - fuelling rumours of a rift with the premier.

Asked when he plans to return from his break, Daim said: "I will decide ... I will decide soon."

Rumours of rifts

The finance minister, widely considered Malaysia's second most powerful man after Mahathir, has often said he wants to quit politics.

There have been frequent rumours of rifts with the premier but both men have said in the past they are able to work with each other.

Daim's decision to take leave was made public a few days after the appointment of former central bank governor Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman as one of Mahathir's economic advisers.

Daim, 62, was born in the same village as Mahathir and served as finance minister from 1984 to 1991.

In December 1997, as the regional financial crisis battered Malaysia, he was appointed to head the National Economic Action Council to spur growth.

Daim was brought back into the cabinet in June 1998 as special functions minister to promote economic recovery, dealing a blow to then-finance minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar was sacked in September 1998 and subsequently jailed. Daim was appointed finance minister in January 1999.