The Russian central bank has revoked the license of one of the country's largest banks, Inkombank.

In a statement the Central Bank said the situation of Inkombank had sharply deteriorated following the drop in the value of the rouble since August.

It said Inkombank's obligations far outstripped its ability to meet them.

The central bank did not rule out the possibility of re-structuring Inkombank if Russian and foreign credit organisations could be found to help.

But correspondents say the move matches the government's pledge to let truly insolvent banks collapse.