Short answer: if you have cash you genuinely don't need for the next 6–12 months, locking part of it into a fixed deposit today is the sensible move — and trying to time a higher rate usually costs you more than it saves.
Here's the reasoning. Fixed deposit rates track Bank Negara's Overnight Policy Rate, which has been held steady at 2.75% since the July 2025 cut. The latest average 6-month FD rate sits at 3.55% p.a. For deposit rates to climb meaningfully from here, BNM would need to start raising the OPR again — and nothing in the current data points to that being imminent. So "waiting for a better rate" means leaving your cash in a near-zero current account for months on the hope of a move that may not come.
Run the numbers on the cost of waiting. RM50,000 sitting idle instead of in a 3.55% FD gives up roughly RM888 of interest over six months. A rate would have to rise quite a lot, quite soon, to make up for that lost ground — and it won't, if the OPR stays put.
What I'd actually do: don't lock up everything. Put the portion you're sure you won't touch into an FD now to capture today's rate, and keep the rest in a high-yield savings account so you stay flexible. That's the FD-ladder idea in miniature — you get most of the yield without surrendering all your liquidity. If the OPR does rise later, your liquid cash can chase the new rate while your locked FD keeps earning.
The thing to remember is that FD income is a rate-cycle bet, not a fixed promise. The rate you can get today is a real, known number; the rate you might get later is a guess. Bank the known one with the cash you can spare.