Greece says IMF willing to be 'flexible' with Athens's reform proposals

Greece has not received bailout funds since last August and has resorted to measures such as borrowing from state entities to tide it over. A new package of reforms offered last week has yet to be approved by its European Union and IMF lenders.

"(IMF Chief Christine) Lagarde ... stressed that, in Greece's case, the Fund is willing to show utmost flexibility in the way in which the government's reforms and fiscal proposals will be evaluated," a ministry statement said.

It follows a meeting between Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and Lagarde in Washington on Sunday.

The statement said U.S. Treasury officials who also met with Varoufakis expressed the willingness of the U.S. government to play the role of "honest broker" in helping Greece strike a deal with its lenders as soon as possible.

"U.S. officials conveyed the importance the Obama administration places on an honest agreement between Greece and its partners and on preserving the unity of the euro zone."

Greece has its hopes set on another meeting of euro zone deputy finance ministers on April 8-9, although it is unlikely that a deal could be reached by then. The next meeting of euro zone finance ministers will take place on April 24.

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos, Lefteris Papadimas and Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Mark Heinrich)