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Tonight in Washington, Greek Finance Minister Yannis Varoufakis will meet IMF director Christine Lagarde. As stated in the ministry’s bulletin, this will be an informal discussion of the reform programme of the Greek government.

According to Mega TV, Lagarde has responded positively to Varoufakis’s request for a meeting despite today being Catholic Easter, which Lagarde herself celebrates.

According to information from the Greek side, the IMF has taken the toughest line during negotiations, with its representatives digging their feet on issues like finance, employment and insurance.

The same sources argue that Varoufakis will try to convince Lagarde that his government is resolute on proceeding with radical reforms in order to unblock the negotiations.

The minister of finance is hoping that after this meeting Lagarde will informally instruct IMF representatives to change tack and continue talks.

The meeting between Varoufakis and Lagarde comes a day after the ministry of finance and the IMF denied a Spiegel publication, which claimed that the IMF team had withdrawn from Greece, because of dissatisfaction with the delays in the implementation of reforms.

The IMF statement says that "the technical teams of the three institutions have been in Athens for more than three weeks and are collaborating with the Greek authorities. Certain members of the teams return to their headquarters as part of normal replacements during missions. Technical discussions continue both at headquarters and in the field, with the participation of institutions’ local staff.

Besides meeting with Christine Lagarde, on Monday Yannis Varoufakis will meet US Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs Nathan Sheets as Secretary Jack Lew is absent. Later on, Varoufakis will talk with Caroline Atkinson, an adviser of president Obama, on international economic affairs and national security.

According to an official of the European Commission, quoted by Mega TV, Greece and the creditors have found a compromise on the key issues and an agreement seems likely by June.

It will cover the period until late June, and then the two sides will have to reassemble at the negotiating table and review government reforms.

According to the European official, the Greek government has shown its willingness to lay off staff and reform the tax system in such a way as to strengthen both revenues and confidence in the country.

According to the same source, the agreement between Greece and its European partners is hampered by the IMF’s intransigent position and its insistence to complete the inspection.