One reason is that monks appear to have been systematically melting down strings of coins, often hundreds of thousands at a time, to build colossal copper or even gilded copper statues of the Buddha—along with other objects such as bells and copper chimes, or even such extravagances as mirrored halls or gilded copper roof tiles. The result, according to official commissions of inquiry, was economically disastrous: the price of metals would soar, coinage disappear, and rural marketplaces cease to function, even as those rural people whose children had not become monks often fell deeper into
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Remember, melting gold and copper for which formed the basis of currency reduces the money supply, which in turn causes deflation (little money chasing lots of goods in demand => price of goods rapidly decrease). Deflation causes borrowing costs to rise, as the currency is now worth much more yet payments on debt remain fixed and must be paid with the currency. Depending on how responsive demand for debt is to increases in borrowing costs, assuming such demand was not as responsive as the resulting change in supply of debt (borrowing costs rise, debt supply increases), then the creditors would stand the most to gain.
