"The full amount should arrive by Wednesday," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"A payment of seven billion euros ($9.2 billion) was made on Monday. There will be another 11.3 billion euros for debt buyback plus 16 billion euros to recapitalise Greek banks," he added.

Following a decision by European leaders last week, another 14.8 billion euros from Greece's ongoing EU-IMF assistance package is to be disbursed in the first quarter of next year.

Greece had been denied bailout funds since June owing to reform delays and a protracted electoral campaign that created uncertainty about the future of its promised fiscal overhaul.

The recession-hit country urgently needs the money to settle a 31.9-billion-euro debt buyback carried out last week.

It must also recapitalise Greek banks that took a massive hit to their books in the spring from a write-down, a previous attempt to bring Greece's huge sovereign debt under control.