THE IMF awarded Lesotho four million dollars under a special anti-poverty arrangement Monday, following a review of its overall fiscal performance. “Key economic indicators are performing as expected: The overall fiscal stance continued to improve, economic growth picked up and inflation remained stable,” the board of the International Monetary Fund said in a written statement. Lesotho was awarded the drawing rights, although it still needs to meet its commitment, under a three-year program, to clear the backlog of unaudited public accounts by training staff and appoint an accountant general. “There has been significant progress towards a full Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, undertaken in a broad-based participatory process,” said the IMF, in making SDR 3,5-million (about four million dollars) available immediately. Lesotho has so far drawn nine million dollars on the IMF anti-poverty arrangement totaling about $31-million. – AFP