Greek finance minister optimistic over deal with EU/IMF lenders, cites convergence

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece will reach a deal with its international lenders although this may not happen in the upcoming meeting of euro zone finance ministers, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Tuesday citing signs of convergence.

"There will be a deal, a comprehensive agreement," Varoufakis told reporters in Athens. "But this does not mean that there will be an agreement at Friday's Eurogroup".

"There is clear convergence" he added.

Referring to the negotiations Varoufakis said earlier the International Monetary Fund "was demanding the deregulation of the labor market", a market which he said was already hit by a deep recession during the debt crisis.

Labor rules and a pension reform have been sticking points in the talks which have dragged on for months.

(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; writing by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Janet Lawrence)