Once the market began to figure out that net foreign reserves were almost depleted, the US$ 17.2 billion package from the IMF could not have generated that much confidence, particularly since the amount was to be drawn over a period of 34 months and Thailand still had about US$ 35 billion in short-term external debt. The quicker one could convert Baht to foreign currency the safer one would be, and also stand to gain as the Baht is clearly expected to depreciate further and further. The fact that the IMF expected a current account deficit to continue only made the situation worse, since it is hard to image how an excess supply for foreign currency could arise. Only when the current account turned into sizeable surplus would the supply of foreign currencies begin to exceed demand and the Baht strengthen.