Public finance is the study of how the government raises its revenue is spent. Public finance consists of five major divisions which include the following:-

Public revenue or income: This section studies the methods of raising public revenues and the principles of taxation.

Public expenditure: This deals with ways in which the government spends its revenue and the effects of such public expenditure on services like education, health, defence etc.

Public debt: This section attempts to study the causes and methods of public borrowing as well as public debt management.

Financial administration: This section studies the preparation and implementation of the budget together with government auditing of all organs under state control.

Fiscal policy: This is the study of the use of public finance operations to bring about economic stability and growth in the economy. Fiscal policy deals with variations in government income and expenditure as revealed in the budget with the view of influencing  activities in a given economy.