News
SCMPWhy US Indo-Pacific ‘burden sharing’ risks deepening polarisation and big power rivalry·Al JazeeraWhat the Taliban achieved and failed to achieve in five years·SCMPUS readies Iran penalties as Trump downplays midterms impact·NYTWorker Pay Isn’t Keeping Up With Inflation Once Again·Economic TimesETMarkets Management Talk| MAN Industries eyes bigger Saudi footprint; region could contribute 35–40% of revenue in 3 years: Nikhil Mansukhani·NYTJuly Retail Sales Notch Biggest Drop in Over a Year·RBIForex inflows via FCNR(B) Deposits, External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) and Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCBs) under Reserve Bank’s Swap facility·RBIDevelopments in India’s Balance of Payments for the Month of June 2026·SCMPWhy US Indo-Pacific ‘burden sharing’ risks deepening polarisation and big power rivalry·Al JazeeraWhat the Taliban achieved and failed to achieve in five years·SCMPUS readies Iran penalties as Trump downplays midterms impact·NYTWorker Pay Isn’t Keeping Up With Inflation Once Again·Economic TimesETMarkets Management Talk| MAN Industries eyes bigger Saudi footprint; region could contribute 35–40% of revenue in 3 years: Nikhil Mansukhani·NYTJuly Retail Sales Notch Biggest Drop in Over a Year·RBIForex inflows via FCNR(B) Deposits, External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) and Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCBs) under Reserve Bank’s Swap facility·RBIDevelopments in India’s Balance of Payments for the Month of June 2026·

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Build your own risk model. Drag the sliders to change how much each factor matters, then see how your weights change the rankings — using our live data.

Factor Weights

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Inflation Rate
Annual consumer price inflation (CPI). Measures how fast prices are rising and purchasing power is eroding. Above 10% is concerning, above 50% indicates crisis.
Source: World Bank
13 · 14%
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Debt-to-GDP
Government debt as a percentage of GDP. High debt limits fiscal flexibility and increases the temptation to print money, which devalues the currency.
Source: World Bank
9 · 10%
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FX Volatility
Recent exchange rate movement against USD. Large swings signal market stress and make the currency unpredictable for citizens and businesses.
Source: Exchange Rate APIs
8 · 9%
?
Global Currency Role
How embedded a currency is in the global financial system — reserve holdings, trade invoicing, FX turnover. Major currencies (USD, EUR) score low risk; domestic-only currencies score high.
Source: IMF COFER, BIS
8 · 9%
?
Capital Controls
How difficult it is to convert or move money out of this currency. Ranges from 0 (fully open, like USD) to 95 (completely closed, like North Korea). Thin FX markets amplify the risk.
Source: IMF AREAER, BIS
7 · 8%
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Reserve Adequacy
Foreign exchange reserves measured in months of import cover. Countries with low reserves cannot defend against speculative attacks or sudden capital outflows.
Source: World Bank
6 · 7%
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Current Account
Current account balance as % of GDP — the net flow of trade and income with the rest of the world. Large deficits mean dependence on foreign capital, which can flee suddenly.
Source: World Bank
6 · 7%
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Governance Quality
Rule of law, regulatory quality, and institutional effectiveness. Weak governance correlates with politicized monetary policy and less independent central banks.
Source: World Bank WGI
6 · 7%
?
GDP Growth
Annual real GDP growth rate. Economies in recession face rising deficits and pressure to debase the currency. Strong growth lowers risk.
Source: World Bank
5 · 5%
?
Non-Performing Loans
Bank non-performing loans as % of total loans. High NPL ratios signal banking stress that can trigger credit crunches, bank failures, and broader currency crises.
Source: World Bank
5 · 5%
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Peg Fragility
Risk of a fixed exchange rate peg breaking. Only applies to hard pegs and currency boards (e.g. Hong Kong, Bahrain). Free-floating currencies always score 0. A peg holds until it breaks — violently.
Source: IMF AREAER
5 · 5%
?
Black Market Premium
Gap between the official exchange rate and the parallel/black market rate. A premium above 10% means the official rate is a fiction — citizens cannot access foreign currency at the stated price.
Source: Curated dataset
4 · 4%
?
Military Strength
How strong a country's military is relative to peers. Weak military capability can leave a country vulnerable to external pressure, sanctions enforcement, or territorial disputes — all of which can destabilize the currency. Not in the official model.
Source: Global Firepower, SIPRI
0 · 0%
?
Data Opacity Penalty
Penalizes countries that don't report economic data. Countries hiding their numbers are almost always hiding bad news.
10 · 11%
Inflation: 14%Debt/GDP: 10%FX Volatility: 9%Global Role: 9%Capital Controls: 8%FX Reserves: 7%Current Account: 7%Governance: 7%GDP Growth: 5%Bad Loans (NPL): 5%Peg Fragility: 5%Black Market: 4%Opacity: 11%
50 countries · Sorted by your custom score (highest risk first)
#CountryCcyYour ScoreLevelOfficialDiff
1North KoreaKPW100Critical65+35
2TurkmenistanTMT100Critical45+55
3CubaCUP84Critical68+16
4VenezuelaVES77Critical770
5South SudanSSP76Critical74+2
6SyriaSYP76Critical69+7
7SudanSDG71High710
8EritreaERN68High67+1
9IranIRR61High610
10LebanonLBP60High59+1
11ZimbabweZWL60High56+4
12BoliviaBOB57High570
13Equatorial GuineaXAF57High570
14PalestineILS55High550
15YemenYER55High57-2
16ArgentinaARS52High54-2
17BurundiBIF52High53-1
18MyanmarMMK51High52-1
19UkraineUAH51High510
20MalawiMWK49Moderate490
21SurinameSRD49Moderate48+1
22EgyptEGP48Moderate50-2
23HaitiHTG48Moderate480
24AngolaAOA47Moderate470
25Dem. Rep. CongoCDF47Moderate470
26Sierra LeoneSLE47Moderate470
27EthiopiaETB46Moderate48-2
28ZambiaZMW46Moderate460
29AfghanistanAFN45Moderate47-2
30ChadXAF45Moderate450
31BangladeshBDT44Moderate46-2
32MozambiqueMZN44Moderate45-1
33NigeriaNGN44Moderate46-2
34ColombiaCOP43Moderate430
35LaosLAK43Moderate45-2
36LiberiaLRD43Moderate430
37GhanaGHS42Moderate420
38MadagascarMGA42Moderate43-1
39RussiaRUB42Moderate44-2
40SomaliaSOS42Moderate44-2
41BelarusBYN41Moderate43-2
42KyrgyzstanKGS41Moderate410
43Sri LankaLKR41Moderate410
44GuineaGNF40Moderate39+1
45HungaryHUF40Moderate400
46MaldivesMVR40Moderate39+1
47MauritaniaMRU40Moderate400
48MexicoMXN40Moderate400
49TajikistanTJS40Moderate400
50United KingdomGBP40Moderate33+7

Custom scores use the same underlying data and normalization as the official FiatRisk model. Only the weights differ. The “Diff” column shows how your model diverges from the official score (positive = your model rates it riskier). This tool is for educational exploration — it does not constitute financial advice.