ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said the electricity and natural gas loadshedding was worse than terrorism due to which the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of the country was decreasing.

He was addressing the 25th Achievement Award Ceremony of Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) at Convention Center in Islamabad on Saturday.

RCCI President Javed Akhtar Bhatti besides MNAs Malik Pervez Mohammad Hanif Abbasi, Malik Ibrar, Malik Shakeel Awan, Begum Tahira Aurangzeb, Adviser to Punjab chief minister Raja Ashfaq Sarwar, MPAs Raja Hanif Advocate, Shehryar Riaz, Ziaullah Shah, Chaudhry Ayyaz, Malik Iftikhar, diplomats and a large number of office-bearers and workers of the chamber were also present on the occasion.

The chief minister said the crisis of loadshedding was due to a circular debt of Rs500 billion and the federal government did not make any effort to overcome it.

He said in addition to Punjab, about Rs300 billion were outstanding against other provinces and government institutions and if this amount was recovered, then 4,000 megawatts could be included in electricity.