Budgeting for the Unexpected: Leveraging Stress Tests to Promote Resiliency
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis is the latest in a revolving door of events that have had significant impacts for governments and their ability to budget and provide for the continuity of services. Too often governments have relied upon staid long-term financial plans with minor incremental adjustments for annual growth/retraction for revenues and expenditures. With these regular challenges, how can governments better prepare to help identify their budget vulnerabilities and plan for addressing these gaps in order to build financial resiliency? This session will focus on the importance of stress tests, where to get started, how to choose scenarios, strategies for refining your approach and better using information to make decisions. Making stress tests a regular part of long-term financial planning will have impacts throughout your organization's financial and operational plans.