Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the I.M.F., said she was prepared to recommend joining the bailout even though work remained on how to ease Greece’s debt burden. “I hope that the discussion over specific debt relief measures can soon be brought to conclusion,” she said.

Ms. Lagarde said she would formally recommend participation in the bailout of as much as $2 billion on what she described as a standby basis.

The difficulty in completing a deal has centered on a long-running showdown among creditors. On one side, several eurozone countries led by Germany want Athens to carry out what they view as reforms before specifying debt concessions that could take effect next year at the earliest. On the other, the I.M.F., with policy makers in Brussels and the Greek government, has been pushing for immediate commitments on the details of eventual debt relief.

The standoff has highlighted the problems of managing the sprawling 19-nation area that uses the euro, and is occurring despite recent signs that regional leaders had tamed crises that have plagued the monetary union for much of the last decade.

Greece, which has been on international financial life support since 2010, has been in recession on and off for years. In that time, its economy has shrunk by nearly a fifth, and unemployment now stands at slightly less than 25 percent. The latest tranche of money is part of an €86 billion bailout, Greece’s third rescue since the crisis erupted.