He was speaking at the opening of a container operations centre at Colombo port today (10).

The president said there would be joint ventures with private sector for loss-making state-entities.

He went onto say that he expected a growth in the Rs. 40 billion income earned for the state by the Colombo port last year.

Part of that revenue had gone to cover losses of Hambantota port, the president noted.

Easing the national debt burden was a must, he added.