These flows have significant consequences for exchange markets, and their abrupt variations (in either capital inflows or outflows) can be a signal of impending problems. The Central Bank is now working closely with private financial institutions and with the Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to collate more reliable data on the capital account of the balance of payments.
The structural determinants of global imbalances relate for instance to incomplete financial globalisation, related in particular to the lower stage of financial development in some regions of the world. Financial market imperfections in fast growing emerging economies, combined with rising incomes resulted in higher savings ratios in these regions.