The main reason for the rapid improvement in the country's foreign reserve position is that the current account turned into substantial surplus starting in the last quarter of 1997 (table 2). Compared to the situation before the Baht float, the turnaround in the current account generated an additional net foreign exchange inflow into the country of about two billion US$ per month. This helped to offset continued capital outflow from repayment of outstanding foreign debt. The current account continued to be in substantial surplus throughout 1998, with the cumulated surplus totalling about US$ 14.3 billion. As the current account surplus cumulated, the Baht began to strengthen from February 1998, and has been fairly stable since November 1998 (table 3)