PETALING JAYA: As banks move in to monitor and assess the impact of the novel coronavirus on their businesses, analysts say the pandemic outbreak if prolong could take a hit on the sector’s loan growth, translating to lower interest income.

It is learnt that banks are closely monitoring the situation on fears that it could affect the demand for loans from the various economic sectors if the outbreak persists.

Interest income from loans, which is the banks’ mainstay, accounted for 68.5% of tota