Jakarta, May 12 -- The Indonesian Government will step into the bond market to stabilize yields and ease pressure on the rupiah, which weakened to 17,500 per U.S. dollar, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said Tuesday.

"We will start helping (the central bank) tomorrow, maybe by entering the bond market," Purbaya told reporters at the finance ministry.

He said the intervention would be carried out through the bond stabilization fund (BSF) using available budget resources and could include buybacks.

The rupiah closed at 17,529 per dollar on Tuesday, down 0.66 percent from the previous day.

Purbaya said Bank Indonesia has the capacity to maintain currency stability, but the government will act to prevent bond yields from rising too ...