Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has wrongly received flak for Selangor's "no plastic bag" ruling, said Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar.

He said some are claiming that the federal government is imposing the 20 sen charge on plastic bags because it is running out of money.

"I got a call asking if Najib has run out of money to the extent that people have to pay 20 sen per plastic bag.

"I would like to tell the rakyat to not confuse the state and federal governments, and not be angry with the federal government. Don't be angry with Najib because this is the state government's doing," he said.

He was commenting on the Selangor government's policy to discourage the use of plastic bags by imposing a 20 sen per bag charge, which started Jan 1.

Speaking to reporters in Shah Alam, Noh, who is also Selangor Umno chief said the policy burdens the people.

Who pockets the 20 sen?

Instead, he said, the Selangor should outright ban the use of plastic bags.

"I was astonished, if they want to be plastic-free, don't sell plastic bags.

"Don't pass laws that burden the rakyat. Who is the 20 sen for? The local government or the traders?" Noh asked.

On a separate matter, Noh refused to speculate on the outcome of the next general election, nor the Finance Times report predicting BN's victory.

"I do not want to predict anything, my duty is to work as if national polls will be tomorrow," he told reporters today.

The UK Financial Times' Confidential Research arm also speculated that the Malaysian elections would be held in the third quarter of 2017.

The report said Najib looked set to retain power and cement his influence further, and that the redelineation exercise should be done by the end of the second quarter of this year.