WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said its Executive Board on Friday approved the disbursement of $258 million to Kenya. The IMF said in a statement the board"s decision on the disbursement would bring total IMF financial support under Kenya"s Extended Fund Facility and Extended Credit Facility programs to $973 million. "Kenya showed remarkable resilience to the COVID shock in 2020 and is staging an economic recovery. Growth is now estimated to accelerate to 5.9 percent in 2021," the IMF said. It said Kenya’s COVID-19 vaccination programme has accelerated, "though uncertainty and pandemic-related pressures will persist until vaccinations become widely available." Kenyan authorities show strong commitment to their reform agenda in a challenging environment and have maintained careful control of government spending to limit the deficit, the IMF said.