Exhibit 23.a

                          Independent Auditors' Consent

The Board of Directors
First Bancorp

We consent to  incorporation by reference in Amendment No. 1 to the Registration
Statement of First  Bancorp on Form S-8 relating to the First Bancorp 1994 Stock
Option  Plan (File no.  033-82542)  , the  Registration  Statement  on Form S-3D
relating to the First Bancorp  Dividend  Reinvestment  and Common Stock Purchase
Plan (File no.  333-71431),  and the Registration  Statement of First Bancorp on
Form S-8 relating to three First Savings Bancorp,  Inc. stock option plans (File
no.  333-51798),  of  our  report  dated  January  24,  2001,  relating  to  the
consolidated balance sheets of First Bancorp and subsidiaries as of December 31,
2000 and 1999, and the related consolidated statements of income,  comprehensive
income,  shareholders'  equity  and  cash  flows  for  each of the  years in the
three-year  period ended December 31, 2000, which report appears in the December
31, 2000 Annual Report on Form 10-K of First Bancorp.

                                                   /s/ KPMG LLP


Raleigh, North Carolina
March 8, 2001