Innovations in information technology have also contributed to the two-way movement in capital flows to the  6  BIS Review 54/2009  EMEs. Overall, in response to these factors, capital flows to the EMEs since the early 1980s have grown over time, but with large volatility (Committee on Global Financial System, 2009).
After remaining nearly flat in the second half of the 1980s, private capital flows jumped to an annual average of US $ 124 billion during 1990-96. 1 With the onset of the Asian financial crisis, total private capital flows fell to an annual average of US $ 86 billion during 1997-2002.