It's reliance on the auto sector has helped the province bounce back more quickly.

The Eastern Cape is poised to make a comeback from the recession that ravaged the province last year, with economic indicators painting a positive picture for the year ahead.

"The good news for you in the Eastern Cape is that, although the province fell the deepest of all provinces, your comeback should be the quickest," economist Mike Schüssler said yesterday after an economic barometer revealed growth in most sectors in the province.

The barometer, developed by Schüssler's Economists.co.za - a specialist economics consultancy to government, business and industry - looked at year-on-year growth for the Eastern Cape, as well as for other provinces, including the Western Cape and Gauteng.

According to Schüssler, whereas Gauteng entered the recession first and the Eastern Cape last, both provinces appeared to be heading out of the doldrums first.

The Eastern Cape relies on the automotive, tourism and manufacturing sectors - and it is the reliance on the automotive sector that has allowed the province to bounce back quicker than those provinces reliant on sectors like agriculture, which has also been set back by drought in recent months.

The main index of the EC barometer revealed that, since September, the economy had been steadily recovering, with the main index 3.1 percent higher over three months than it was over the same period last year.

However, Schüssler cautioned optimists to be mindful that while the figures may show improvement in the last quarter, they were still down overall from the boom times experienced prior to the recession.

For example, the main index was down seven percent in December compared to December 2008.

"The province has turned a corner but the tough times are not over yet," Schüssler cautioned.

Border-Kei Chamber of Business chief executive Les Holbrook agreed that while resilience in adversity proved a winning strategy for local businesses facing a better economic climate in 2010, recovery would not come quickly or easily. "The manufacturing sector has been the hardest hit where a world under recession started cancelling orders, cutting back on inventory and retrenching staff," he said. "Regarding recovery, certainly it is slow ... It is still going to be at least three to four months for this ‘recovery' to be felt."

In his opinion, the fact that Mercedes-Benz South Africa - a major employer and economic driver in the province - was back to full production and that their suppliers were picking up, was a good sign.

But, he added: "The bottom line is that it's too early to tell. The indicators may be there - but it's still too tight."

MBSA spokesperson Annelise van der Laan agreed that the economic recession took its toll on the automotive industry - SA's new car and truck sales being down 25.9 percent in 2009 compared to 2008.

But, echoing Holbrook, Van der Laan was confident the industry was on the right track for continued recovery. They had "seen seen the worst of the recession and I believe we are on the path of recovery but it will be a gradual return to normal buying cycles".

"There are definite signs of revival in the US economy. This will soon have a good spin-off for local (manufacturers) who export to that market, providing for a modest increase in SA's export volumes."