增加

    周五央行数据表明，中国信贷增长上月大幅放缓，10月新增人民币贷款5483亿元，环比下降36%，引发部分经济学家呼吁政府出台政策刺激经济。请看本报昨日的报道：

    China’s bank lending tumbled in October and money supply growth cooled, raising fears of a sharper slowdown in the economy and prompting some economists to urge the government to ratchet up stimulus measures, including cutting interest rates.

    Chinese banks made a much less-than-expected 548.3 billion yuan (US$89.5 billion) worth of new loans in October, down 36 percent from September, central bank data showed Friday.

    Ratchet本意是“棘齿”，作动词是“安装棘轮于”，报道中的ratchet up就是“增加”的意思，此外ratchet down就是“减少”。例如：

    Audiences’ expectations are ratcheted up as they are exposed to high-budget productions.

    观众看惯大制作影片后对电影的期望值提高了。