Tatul Manaseryan, economics advisor to the President of the RoA National Assembly, said that despite the fact that Armenia is part of the world economic system; the country could chart its own course of development to pull though out of the current economic crisis. He likened the crisis to a virus that strikes at various immunity systems of a given national economy, adding that in Armenia the full strength of the Armenian economy has yet to be evaluated. "I don't rule out the possibility that real estate prices will continue to fall in the West. Here, there is price stagnation but we are all aware of the paradoxes we face and prices can exhibit a different picture in this crisis stage. The public has a variety of opinions regarding the crisis. But we must be realists. The natural progression of the crisis continues and as an economist I would day that the worst stage of the crisis will be experienced either by mid 2010 or by the end of the year. As to the degree of using credit as an instrument to ward off the effects of the crisis, Mr. Manaseryan said he placed greater emphasis on domestic investment since foreign investment and credit grants always carried political baggage. He added that credit must be used properly and channeled in the right direction. Mr. Manaseryan was upbeat regarding the future prospects of the Armenian economy and believed that the nation could overcome the effects of the crisis due to its growing economy. The economist stated that Armenia's current foreign debt had risen to $3 billion, double the previous figure of $1.5 billion, adding that the country needs more than $10 billion to move forward.