The economic outlook for South Africa in the first half of 2009 remains fairly bleak with a recession still a real possibility, according to two top economists, however prospects look brighter in the second half of the year.

"Whether we will go into a contraction is still uncertain, but we expect it to be very close," said Fanie Joubert, an economist at the Efficient Group in an interview with Engineering News.

Joubert said he expects the average economic growth for the whole of 2009 to be between 0.5% and 1%, but noted that the second quarter is likely to see negative growth.

Chris Hart, an economist at Investment Solutions South Africa, was a little more positive, predicting South Africa's GDP to grow by between 1% and 1.5% for the year as a whole.

Both economists said they expect the country's GDP to start improving in the second half of the year.