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TL;DR
The Marshall Islands completed a year of quarterly Enra payments to resident citizens and approved $32.5 million for the program’s second year, plus a $3.2 million top-up. The payments are financed through a trust fund established under the country’s Compact of Free Association with the United States. No evaluation of Enra’s effects has been published, leaving open what it changes and what lessons it offers countries weighing AI-related income support.
The Marshall Islands has completed the first year of Enra, a nationwide quarterly cash-payment program for citizens living in the country, and approved $32.5 million for its second year, with an additional $3.2 million top-up. The development offers a real-world case of basic income beyond a limited trial, but no public evaluation has yet established what the payments have changed—a key limitation for countries considering income support amid concern about AI and work.
Enra’s first payment was made on November 26, 2025. Four quarterly payments followed through August 2026. The final payment was $215.85 per person to 40,714 people, according to the Marshall Islands Social Security Administration administrator, as reported by the Marshall Islands Journal. President Hilda Heine has said the program reached more than 95% of the resident population.
The payment amount is not fixed for each person: Enra divides a fixed annual pot among eligible residents. As registrations rose, the March 2026 payment fell to about $160. A $3.2 million World Bank grant helped raise the third and fourth payments to roughly $200; the August amount was higher. A resident receiving all four payments got about $780 over the year, based on the reported quarterly amounts.
On September 2, the trust fund committee approved $32.5 million for Enra’s second year. Parliament approved a budget on September 18 that included that sum and a separate $3.2 million top-up. The source reports that the previous year’s budget line was $27.6 million. Payments are made by check, bank deposit or the Lomalo phone wallet. The wallet supports a digital instrument called USDM1; the finance ministry says it is a dollar-denominated sovereign bond backed one-to-one by short-dated U.S. Treasuries, and rejects describing it as a cryptocurrency, central bank digital currency or stablecoin.
Infographic 01 · Enra, the first year
Four payments, one fixed pot
How the Marshall Islands paid a basic income to almost every resident citizen between November 2025 and August 2026.
- Nov 2025First payment: $201.92 to more than 33,000 people. MISSA had enrolled 33,119 by 30 Sep 2025.Launch ceremony in Majuro, 26 Nov
- End Mar 2026About $160. Delayed a month to vet new registrations and residence. More than 37,000 registered, same fixed budget.Citizens away more than 3 months are removed from the list, with exceptions
- End May 2026About $200 again, thanks to a $3.2 million World Bank grant ($1.6 million per quarter). More than 41,000 on the eligible list.Pushed by the president over fuel and food prices
- Aug 2026$215.85 to 40,714 people. Fewer paper checks than in earlier rounds.MISSA administrator to the Marshall Islands Journal
Payment per person, year one
US dollars per quarter · March and May rounded as reported
Why the amount moves
- Enra is a fixed annual budget shared equally among everyone eligible that quarter.
- More registrations mean a smaller share unless the budget grows.
- Roughly $780 per person in year one, about 12% of GDP per person (IMF: $6,417, FY2023). My arithmetic.
Sources: Marshall Islands Journal (27 Nov 2025, 26 Feb, 22 May, 6 Aug, 27 Aug 2026) · IMF, 10 Sep 2025. March and May amounts as reported (“about”).
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A National Test With Limited Evidence
Enra matters because it has moved basic income from a small, time-limited pilot to a countrywide policy covering tens of thousands of residents. That makes its reach and administration relevant to governments asking whether broad cash payments could cushion households as automation and AI affect employment. It does not, on its own, show how such a policy would work in larger or wealthier economies.
The first year provides evidence about delivery and access: the program made four payments, and the final round reached more than 40,000 people. But reach is not the same as impact. Without a published evaluation, there is no established basis in the source material to say whether Enra reduced poverty, improved household security, affected work decisions or changed local prices. Those distinctions matter when comparing a functioning program with proposals for AI-linked income support.
Its funding also sets limits on the comparison. Enra is financed from a trust fund created under the Compact of Free Association with the United States, rather than being presented as a recurring tax-funded entitlement. The International Monetary Fund estimated its cost at 8.1% of GDP in fiscal 2026 and urged the government to replace it with a targeted program at the first feasible opportunity. That is a policy recommendation, not a finding that Enra has failed.
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How Enra Reached Residents
The program’s official name is the Individual Support Distribution. The Ministry of Finance describes it as “the world’s first country-wide, long-term universal basic income program.” That is the government’s characterization. Enra is universal among eligible Marshallese citizens who live in the country, including children; citizens living abroad are not eligible. The administration uses residency checks, and the source says people who remain outside the country for more than three months are generally removed from the list, with exceptions including students, diplomats and patients sent abroad for treatment.
The payment method reflects the country’s geography. Bank branches are concentrated on Majuro and Ebeye, while mailed checks can take weeks to reach outer islands. Lomalo offers a digital option, although the number of recipients using the wallet has not been published. The first payment, in November 2025, was about $201.92 and went to more than 33,000 people. By March 2026, registrations had grown past 37,000, reducing the per-person share of the fixed budget before outside grant funding lifted later payments.
The development drew fresh attention after The Economist published an article about the program on October 29, 2026. The launch itself was not new at that point: the news is that the first full year was complete and lawmakers had approved a larger second-year allocation. The program’s first-year timeline and funding figures come from the source report, which attributes payment details to MISSA and the Marshall Islands Journal.
What Enra Has Yet to Show
No evaluation of Enra has been published in the source material. That means its effects on poverty, food security, employment, household spending and prices remain unestablished. Payment and enrollment figures show that the program operated at national scale, but they do not answer whether it improved living conditions or produced unintended effects.
Several practical details are also missing. The number of recipients who use Lomalo has not been released, and the source does not provide a full account of how the program’s costs will develop beyond the second-year budget. The per-person payment can change as eligibility rolls and available funding change, as the fall to about $160 in March showed. The IMF’s fiscal estimate and policy recommendation are its assessment; the source does not report a government decision to replace Enra.
Funding and Evaluation Ahead
The immediate next step is implementation of the second-year budget approved in September 2026, including the $32.5 million Enra allocation and $3.2 million top-up. The source does not specify the dates or amounts of the next quarterly payments, so those details should not be assumed from the first-year schedule.
Further reporting will need to establish whether the government publishes an evaluation, how the eligible population and payment amounts develop, and whether policymakers act on the IMF’s recommendation. Until then, Enra is evidence that a small country can deliver recurring payments across much of its resident population—not yet evidence of the program’s broader social effects or a direct template for AI-era policy elsewhere.
Key Questions
What is Enra?
Enra is the Marshall Islands’ Individual Support Distribution, a quarterly payment for Marshallese citizens living in the country, including children. It has no means test or work requirement, according to the source report.
How much did residents receive in the first year?
The four payments varied. The final August 2026 payment was $215.85 per person; adding the reported quarterly amounts gives roughly $780 for someone who received all four.
How is Enra funded?
The program draws on a trust fund established under the Compact of Free Association with the United States. A World Bank grant also helped raise payments during the first year.
Has Enra been shown to reduce poverty or change work?
Not in a published evaluation cited by the source. The first-year figures document payments and reach, but the program’s effects remain unknown.
Not by itself. Enra offers a case of nationwide delivery in a small Pacific country with a specific trust-fund financing arrangement. Its effects have not been evaluated, and its funding model differs from many proposals in larger economies.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
