WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Sunday met Greece's Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos in Washington on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the Washington-based IMF and World Bank.

"They discussed the terms under which the IMF mission would return to Athens to undertake the fifth review of Greece's economic program, most likely this coming week,"an IMF spokesperson said in a short statement.

Greece, the debt-ridden country at the epicenter of the sovereign and banking stress, is endeavoring to secure its next tranche of funding from international lenders including the IMF in coming weeks to avoid default.