Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Shin Hyun-song’s pledge this week to keep monetary policy restrictive comes as overall household borrowing begins to cool but mortgage lending remains firm, raising the risk that indebted households will bear the brunt of higher interest rates.

Shin said on Tuesday that policy would remain restrictive for now because inflation remains too high, while declining to say whether the BOK will raise rates again at its Oct. 22 meeting.

The pressure was already visible before the latest hike. The BOK’s August weighted average interest rate datashowed rates on newly issued household loans rising