diff --git a/.github/scripts/update_currencies.py b/.github/scripts/update_currencies.py
index 8de6518d..b546fe41 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/update_currencies.py
+++ b/.github/scripts/update_currencies.py
@@ -11,12 +11,14 @@ API_URL    = 'https://restcountries.com/v3.1/all?fields=name,common,currencies'
 SAVE_PATH  = Path('backend/internal/core/currencies/currencies.json')
 TIMEOUT    = 10  # seconds
 
+
 def setup_logging():
     logging.basicConfig(
         level=logging.INFO,
         format='%(asctime)s %(levelname)s: %(message)s'
     )
 
+
 def fetch_currencies():
     session = requests.Session()
     retries = Retry(
@@ -32,19 +34,19 @@ def fetch_currencies():
         resp.raise_for_status()
     except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
         logging.error("API request failed: %s", e)
-        return None
+        return None  # signal fatal
 
     try:
         countries = resp.json()
     except ValueError as e:
         logging.error("Failed to parse JSON response: %s", e)
-        return None
+        return None  # signal fatal
 
-    result = []
+    results = []
     for country in countries:
         country_name = country.get('name', {}).get('common') or "Unknown"
         for code, info in country.get('currencies', {}).items():
-            result.append({
+            results.append({
                 'code':   code,
                 'local':  country_name,
                 'symbol': info.get('symbol', ''),
@@ -52,7 +54,8 @@ def fetch_currencies():
             })
 
     # sort by country name for consistency
-    return sorted(result, key=lambda x: x['local'].lower())
+    return sorted(results, key=lambda x: x['local'].lower())
+
 
 def load_existing(path: Path):
     if not path.exists():
@@ -64,36 +67,40 @@ def load_existing(path: Path):
         logging.warning("Could not load existing file (%s): %s", path, e)
         return []
 
+
 def save_currencies(data, path: Path):
     path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
-    try:
-        with path.open('w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
-            json.dump(data, f, ensure_ascii=False, indent=4)
-        logging.info("Wrote %d entries to %s", len(data), path)
-    except IOError as e:
-        logging.error("Failed to write file: %s", e)
-        sys.exit(1)
+    with path.open('w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
+        json.dump(data, f, ensure_ascii=False, indent=4)
+    logging.info("Wrote %d entries to %s", len(data), path)
+
 
 def main():
     setup_logging()
-    logging.info("Starting currency update")
+    logging.info("🔄 Starting currency update")
 
     existing = load_existing(SAVE_PATH)
     new = fetch_currencies()
 
+    # Fatal API / parse error → exit non-zero so the workflow will fail
     if new is None:
         logging.error("Aborting: failed to fetch or parse API data.")
         sys.exit(1)
 
+    # Empty array → log & exit zero (no file change)
     if not new:
-        logging.error("Aborting: API returned an empty list.")
-        sys.exit(1)
+        logging.warning("API returned empty list; skipping write.")
+        sys.exit(0)
 
+    # Identical to existing → nothing to do
     if new == existing:
-        logging.info("No changes detected; skipping write.")
-        return
+        logging.info("Up-to-date; skipping write.")
+        sys.exit(0)
 
+    # Otherwise actually overwrite
     save_currencies(new, SAVE_PATH)
+    logging.info("✅ Currency file updated.")
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     main()