Noor Bank plans to help arrange a sukuk or Islamic private placement on behalf of the Indonesian government, with the Dubai-based Islamic finance institution also underwriting part of the deal, a company executive said.

Noor Bank is looking to Indonesia, Turkey and other international markets to escape tougher competition at home and take advantage of a booming global sharia-compliant finance industry.

"Two weeks ago, we participated in a $500 million sukuk for Garuda. Today, we are talking about a significantly bigger amount," Ahmed Aljannahi, Noor Bank's deputy chief executive, told reporters in Jakarta late on Tuesday.

The five-year $500 million offering from airline Garuda Indonesia was the first international sukuk from an unrated Indonesian corporate issuer. Noor Bank was one of several banks involved in the Garuda issuance.

Officials declined to specify the amount of the new sukuk but said it would be dollar based and would include other underwriters.

"This will bring in US dollars. That will help strengthen our forex reserves and help Bank Indonesia maintain the stability of our exchange rate," Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said at the joint news conference.

The rupiah weakened to a fresh 17-year low of 14,117 to the dollar on Wednesday. – Reuters