ABSTRACT
As we have noted previously, anti-competitive market distortions, or ACMDs, refer to government-imposed restrictions on competition. If a country seeks to have a market economy, then it must accept that the heart of the market is competition. It must therefore accept the widely held view that competition on the merits should be the organising principle of the economy. Any deviations from that competition on the merits through laws, regulations or actions can be described as an ACMD. These distortions may occur as distortions of international competition (trade distortions) or they may be distortions of domestic competition, or they may be distortions of property rights protection (that with which firms compete). Distortions across any of these pillars could have a negative effect on economic growth.
