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SIGNATURE KENNETH KOZLOWSKI
TITLE ASSISTANT TREASURER
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 6
<CIK> 0000790500
<NAME> THE FIRST AUSTRALIA PRIME INCOME FUND, INC.
<S> <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE> YEAR
<FISCAL-YEAR-END> Oct-31-1998
<PERIOD-END> Oct-31-1998
<INVESTMENTS-AT-COST> 2,133,625,555
<INVESTMENTS-AT-VALUE> 2,004,967,351
<RECEIVABLES> 44,155,895
<ASSETS-OTHER> 366,335,707
<OTHER-ITEMS-ASSETS> 0
<TOTAL-ASSETS> 2,415,458,953
<PAYABLE-FOR-SECURITIES> 365,420,287
<SENIOR-LONG-TERM-DEBT> 0
<OTHER-ITEMS-LIABILITIES> 21,897,062
<TOTAL-LIABILITIES> 387,317,349
<SENIOR-EQUITY> 600,000,000
<PAID-IN-CAPITAL-COMMON> 1,674,332,200
<SHARES-COMMON-STOCK> 194,744,328
<SHARES-COMMON-PRIOR> 194,744,328
<ACCUMULATED-NII-CURRENT> 0
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-NII> 4,605,692
<ACCUMULATED-NET-GAINS> 3,231,097
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-GAINS> 0
<ACCUM-APPREC-OR-DEPREC> (254,027,385)
<NET-ASSETS> 1,428,141,604
<DIVIDEND-INCOME> 0
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<OTHER-INCOME> 0
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<NET-INVESTMENT-INCOME> 159,330,220
<REALIZED-GAINS-CURRENT> (6,074,878)
<APPREC-INCREASE-CURRENT> (275,093,837)
<NET-CHANGE-FROM-OPS> (121,838,495)
<EQUALIZATION> 0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-INCOME> (131,954,653)
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-GAINS> (41,090,710)
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<SHARES-REINVESTED> 0
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<PER-SHARE-NAV-BEGIN> 8.85
<PER-SHARE-NII> 0.82
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<PER-SHARE-DIVIDEND> (0.89)
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</TABLE>
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of
The First Australia Prime Income Fund, Inc.
(2)
Report of Independent Accountants
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of
The First Australia Prime Income Fund, Inc.
In planning and performing our audit of the financial
statements of The First Australia Prime Income Fund,
Inc. (the "Fund") for the year ended October 31, 1998,
we considered its internal control, including control
activities for safeguarding securities, in order to
determine our auditing procedures for the purpose of
expressing our opinion on the financial statements and
to comply with the requirements of Form N-SAR, not to
provide assurance on internal control.
The management of the Fund is responsible for
establishing and maintaining internal control. In
fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments
by management are required to assess the expected
benefits and related costs of controls. Generally,
controls that are relevant to an audit pertain to the
entity's objective of preparing financial statements
for external purposes that are fairly presented in
conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles. Those controls include the safeguarding of
assets against unauthorized acquisition, use or
disposition.
Because of inherent limitations in internal control,
errors or fraud may occur and not be detected. Also,
projection of any evaluation of internal control to
future periods is subject to the risk that it may
become inadequate because of changes in conditions or
that the effectiveness of the design and operation may
deteriorate.
Our consideration of internal control would not
necessarily disclose all matters in internal control
that might be material weaknesses under standards
established by the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants. A material weakness is a condition
in which the design or operation of one or more of the
internal control components does not reduce to a
relatively low level the risk that misstatements caused
by error or fraud in amounts that would be material in
relation to the financial statements being audited may
occur and not be detected within a timely period by
employees in the normal course of performing their
assigned functions. However, we noted no matters
involving internal control and its operation,
including controls for safeguarding securities, that we
consider to be material weaknesses as defined above as
of October 31, 1998.
This report is intended solely for the information and
use of management, the Board of Directors of the Fund
and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
New York, New York
December 15, 1998
