BRUSSELS, Nov 12: Eurozone finance ministers went into talks on Monday to discuss next steps to bring Greece back from the brink after Athens received a “positive” report card from its international creditors for sticking to austerity.

The payment of a 31.2-billion-euro tranche of funds to stave off bankruptcy in Greece had been held up since June pending judgment on the credibility of its economic reforms, and debt sustainability.

But the long-awaited report from Greece’s “Troika” of creditors — the EU, ECB and IMF — was “positive” and concluded that Athens had “delivered” on its reform pledges, said Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the Eurogroup of finance ministers.

Arriving for talks between the 17 eurozone finance ministers later in the day, Juncker said they finally received the report on Sunday night and it “is positive in its fundamental tone because the Greeks really delivered. Now it is for us to deliver”.

Germany, apparently seeking to play down the positive spin, cautioned that only parts of the key document had been made available, meaning there would be no quick decision on whether to hand a lifeline to the debt-wracked nation.

“We are waiting for more information today,” Finland’s minister Jutta Urpilainen said on arrival. “Then we will see if we’re able to make decisions today or later this week.

Juncker, who is Luxembourg premier, said a new austerity package adopted by the Greek parliament on Wednesday and a cost-cutting 2013 budget agreed late on Sunday were “very ambitious” and “fulfils our wish list nearly completely”.

But there would be “no definitive decision” today, he said, on the release of funds which Prime Minister Antonis Samaras had said were needed by Friday to keep Greece afloat.Monday’s talks come after the Greek parliament, despite noisy protests, agreed a tough budget for next year that further slashes pensions and wages, the latest hurdle cleared by Athens in exchange for foreign aid. Last week, lawmakers adopted a new austerity package as 70,000 angry demonstrators spilled into the streets. —AFP