Brazil's Plano Real

After more than a decade of chronic hyperinflation that at times exceeded 2,000% a year, Brazil's government — with then-finance minister Fernando Henrique Cardoso as chief architect — introduced the Plano Real in mid-1994. The plan first created a transitional unit of account (the URV) to gradually re-anchor prices before launching the new real currency, avoiding the abrupt shock of past failed stabilization attempts. Inflation fell from well over 2,000% annually to single digits within a few years, and the plan's credibility helped Cardoso win the presidency later in 1994. The Real Plan is widely regarded as the turning point that let Brazil pursue the market-opening and social programs of the following two decades.