Blog Post May 22, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #75 Today, we begin in China, where the central bank injected $138 billion into the economy and expanded the money supply by 12.5% year-over-year.
Blog Post May 15, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #74 We bring news from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group is imposing immense taxes on the local economy, merchants, and aid groups to fund its insurgency as it seeks to govern seized regions of the Eastern Congo.
Blog Post May 8, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #73 This week, we bring reports from Bangladesh, where the interim government instructed the central bank to halt the printing of old banknotes featuring Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh.
Blog Post May 1, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #72 This week, we bring pressing news from Belarus, where the regime’s central bank is preparing to launch its central bank digital currency in close collaboration with Russia by the end of 2026.
Blog Post Apr 24, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #71 In Georgia, mere weeks after freezing the bank accounts of five NGOs supporting pro-democracy movements, the ruling Georgian Dream party passed a new law banning foreign organizations from providing grants to local groups without regime approval.
Blog Post Apr 17, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #70 This week’s headlines expose the lengths authoritarian regimes go to perpetuate the financial power that preserves their rule, often going so far as to bend, break, and rewrite the rules of money itself.
Blog Post Apr 10, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #69 Today, HRF takes part in the launch of the Bitcoin Humanitarian Alliance in London, where a dozen human rights and aid groups will convene with policymakers, media, finance professionals, and technologists at the Frontline Club to explain how they are using Bitcoin in their work in the field.
Blog Post Apr 2, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom #68 Georgian officials froze the bank accounts of five nonprofit organizations that provide financial and legal support to detained protesters.
Blog Post Mar 27, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #67 Turkey’s currency plunged to a record low after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rivals.
Blog Post Mar 20, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #66 In Thailand, the government announced a third digital cash handout to “stimulate the economy and drive technological adoption.”
Blog Post Mar 13, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #65 In Iran, lawmakers impeached the economy minister, Abdolnaser Hemmati, following the Iranian rial’s rapid collapse, with the currency plunging to 1 million per dollar.
Blog Post Mar 6, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #64 In Nicaragua, the regime is increasingly cracking down on civil society, imposing new financial regulations on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that require them to disclose donors and report all financial transactions — further restricting their ability to operate independently.
Blog Post Feb 27, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #63 In Nigeria, financial officials are revising digital asset regulations to impose taxes on digital asset transactions on regulated exchanges.
Blog Post Feb 20, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #62 This week, we honor the loss of the late Alexei Navalny, whose bravery inspired millions of Russians to stand up against Vladimir Putin’s financial, political, and social repression.
Blog Post Feb 13, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #61 This week, we highlight how authoritarian regimes are manipulating digital assets. The Central African Republic launched a government-backed meme coin that crashed spectacularly within a day of launch as regime insiders cashed out for profits, leaving the public with worthless tokens.
Blog Post Feb 6, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #60 In India, the central bank has taken a significant step toward launching its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital rupee. In partnership with fintech firms Mobikwik and Cred, the digital rupee is now available to 180 million users through a new “e₹ wallet,” a CBDC wallet app designed for public use.
Blog Post Jan 30, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #59 This week, authoritarian regimes augmented their control and monitoring of online spaces in an attempt to suppress the dissenting voices of those they have financially repressed.
Blog Post Jan 23, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #58 In Iran, officials are accused of exploiting a recent currency devaluation to profit at the public’s expense.
Blog Post Jan 16, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #57 In Burma, the military junta introduced a far-reaching cybersecurity law that criminalizes privacy tools like VPNs and mandates online platforms to store and share user data with state officials.
Blog Post Jan 11, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #56 Welcome to 2025! As the year begins, authoritarian regimes have swiftly escalated financial repression, intensifying efforts to dismantle civil society, undermine due process, and suppress dissent.
