Possibly to distract from the inflation? There's so much shit hitting the fan at the same time at the moment, it's hard to see what is actual shit and what is shit deliberately flung at the fan to distract from the other shit that's hitting the fan so people can't accurately judge how much shit is hitting the fan and in what direction it is flinging. Long story short.... everything is fucked. It's going to get a whole lot worse before it might get better.