Officially unofficial

It is natural to assume that a press note from a government department or a ministry would be the official statement of the department or ministry concerned. So, it came as a surprise when a recent release from a social sector ministry clearly mentioned that the statement was "unofficial" and should be attributed to "sources". Those in the know say this was a practice followed by ministries for which it sometimes became imperative to hide the source of information. Will "unofficial" statements now become the rule rather than the exception?