Jan 21 (Reuters) -

The chair of the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA),

Marcus Bokkerink, has stepped down from his post, the

competition regulator said on Tuesday.

Doug Gurr has been appointed as the interim chair, the CMA

said in a statement.

The Financial Times reported earlier on Tuesday that

Bokkerink, who was appointed chair of the CMA in 2022, was

"forced out" as the government felt the regulator was not

sufficiently focused on economic growth.

The announcement comes after the regulator was singled out

by Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer in October when he

promised to scrap regulation that was holding back growth.

The CMA said the following month that it would focus on

"truly problematic mergers" and rethink its approach to agreeing

remedies that could allow more deals to go ahead to support the

government's growth mission.

The CMA has stepped up its scrutiny of big tech in

recent years by establishing its Digital Markets Unit.

The unit, which gained new powers this month, is tasked with

ensuring the biggest tech companies, such as Google, Amazon,

Meta, Apple and Microsoft ( MSFT ), do not abuse their dominant market

positions.