FRANKFURT (AFX) - Ifo research institute president Hans-Werner Sinn said Germany's economy is in a state of emergency and urged the government to act swiftly by taking measures to boost demand. In an article he wrote for Handelsblatt newspaper, Sinn said the danger of recession has become even greater since last month, after the Ifo and five other research institutes have said that the country is on the brink of recession. "The (state of) emergency has arrived," Sinn said. He said "now is the time" for the government to invoke the 1967 Stability and Growth law, which he said requires the federal states and the government itself to take into consideration the "overall economic equilibrium" when passing economic and financial laws. Sinn said based on this law, budget consolidation must not be the sole aim of government's policy. "Because the overall equilibrium today has very clearly been disturbed by lack of demand, the federal government and the states should make use of the measures allowed by this law," Sinn said. "The law was conceived for an emergency and allows swift action" on the part of the government. All the government has to do is pass laws, such as giving generous investment credits and cutting income taxes by as much as 10 pct, he said. "The signs of a threatening recession have so clearly increased that politicians are called on to act energetically," he said.