Previously, I have interested to invest in a public bank foreign currency fixed deposit. The interests offered were attractive and after thinking long and hard about it, I decided not go for it due to currency risk and country risk.

You can choose to invest on monthly renewal contract than a fixed term of a few months so that you will have liquidity control if you need it. This kind of investment requires your awareness on the currency exchange rate. It’s better not to withdraw when our Ringgit has strengthened and it also means that the bank’s buying price for the foreign currency would not be that much.

Today, I have decided to give it a try. Last year, a friend of mine told me that she invested and the interest rate is way higher than our conventional FD accounts. However, the minimum investment for a conventional FD is only RM1000, while minimum investment for foreign FD is RM10,000 (this is for Public Bank).

You have a choice of opening an account in the following major currencies in Public bank:
- New Zealand Dollar
- Australian Dollar
- Pound Sterling
- U.S. Dollar
- Euro
- Japanese Yen
- Hong Kong Dollar
- Canadian Dollar
- Singapore Dollar
I think now it’s the best time to invest in AUD foreign FD because the rate drop till 2.3-2.7 and it was 3.2-3.4 RM per AUD dollar. In future, the value to AUD will increase…

However, sometimes they have promotion of putting 1 month of FD and it is way higher than 12 months. So, you may also want to ask them whether there is any promotion before you decide.