reforms, but also for their practical disregard of fiscal "fundamentals" and monetary policies. The Real Plan followed a different path opening several reforms agendas attacking fundamental disequilibria at the core of the hyperinflation process. The first was related to the institutional organization of the monetary system. the National Monetary Council was recaptured and reduced to three members (ministers of Finance and Planning and the Governor of the Central Bank), recomposing the commitment of top level decision making to price stability. Sometime later a Monetary Policy Committee (known as COPOM - acronym of Comitê de Política Monetária) was created securing Central Bank's independence in fixing the interest rate. Next, federal banks, and especially Banco do Brasil, had to recognize previous losses, be recapitalized, abide by "Basle Rules" and cease to have unrestricted accommodation at the Central Bank. Provincial banks entered a severe adjustment program through which several liquidations and privatizations reduced their size to almost negligible. Some private banks in trouble entered a program through which the Central Bank financed liquidations, resolutions and changes in control of banking activities. It was a heavy agenda with the banking system, public and private, to reorder the monetary system and its governance. There were numerous fiscal adjustment initiatives, starting with several rounds of debt refinancing with adjustment programs with the states during 1993–1998. The Federal Government gave accommodation to states in exchange for orthodox fiscal programs and several limitations as to their fiscal policies. These programs templates provided a framework to a new Public Finances Law, proposed in 1999, creating benchmarks and limitations for indebtedness and wages expenses, later approved under the designation "Fiscal Responsibility Law", held to be a major progress in securing fiscal balance in the public sector in Brazil . Another important initiative was the 1993 Constitutional Amendment known as Social Emergency Fund (Fundo Social de Emergência, approved during the constitutional revision in March, 1993) which removed most of earmarking in the budget, and allowing the National Treasury to regain control of budgeted expenses. Even so, primary fiscal results were weak during the first few years after 1994. Due to the advancement of reforms, these weak fiscal numbers did not become an issue until the Asian crisis in 1997 and especially in 1998 with the Russian crisis, when Brazil entered an agreement with the IMF and started a decade long period of primary surpluses at the level of 3% of GDP.