In this follow-up volume to A Guide to IMF Stress Testing: Methods and Models the authors look at the stress testing "software." With stress testing increasingly accepted and used as a tool for financial surveillance, supervision, and risk management-in both the public and private spheres-qualitative aspects have taken on greater importance. The best practices, principles, and frameworks are critical for the credible and consistent implementation of the stress testing "hardware."



A Guide to IMF Stress Testing II presents the analyses and applications of the stress testing software. While the selection of appropriate methods or models is critical for the usefulness and credibility of stress tests, and the associated toolkits facilitate their application, such exercises must be undertaken within a coherent and all-inclusive framework.



The first Volume--A Guide to IMF Stress Testing: Methods and Models (2014)--consists of the "hardware" of stress testing. It covers the various stress testing methods and models that IMF staff developed to support the institution's macrofinancial surveillance work, summarizes their respective pros and cons and their appropriate application(s), and provides the toolkits for their implementation.