Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has said he will not pay his electricity bill until President Erdogan cancels recent price hikes, Reuters reported.

Inflation jumped to nearly 50 percent in January after the currency collapsed late last year due to Erdogan's unorthodox low-interest rate policy, raising the cost of living for Turks already struggling to make ends meet.

In response, the government has raised the minimum wage by 50 percent but has also increased the prices of gas, electricity, petrol and road tolls to accommodate import price volatility.

"I will not pay any of my electricity bills from today until Erdogan withdraws the price hikes which he signed on December 31," Republican People's Party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said.

In a video posted on his Twitter account, Kilicdaroglu also called for the value-added tax charged on electricity bills to be reduced to 1% from 18%.

At the beginning of January, electricity prices rose by 125% for high-demand commercial consumers and by around 50% for low-demand households.

The soaring prices have affected Erdogan's ratings ahead of elections in June 2023. The government says credit, exports and investment will help the country cope with inflation.

A deputy chairman of Erdogan's ruling AK Party, Hamza Dag, said Kilicdaroglu's move was provocative and part of a years-old destructive role played by the opposition.

"This action amounts to a provocation, an attempt to create chaos," Dag told broadcaster CNN Turk in an interview when asked whether Turks might follow his lead and not pay their bills.

"I don't believe there will be such an outcome," he said, reiterating government comments that Ankara was working on efforts to address public concerns over energy price rises, which he said reflected global developments.