All eyes are on the world's monetary mandarins.

The European Central Bank's latest programme is an effort to arrest the decline in prices within the eurozone that has been in effect over the last year.

It consists of asset purchases of investment grade securities of euro area government and agency bonds and the initial response of the markets to the programme has been positive. This expanded action by the central bank will be helpful but incomplete.

As impressive and well-intentioned as the ECB's exertions are, they are unlikely to solve the key reasons for the bloc's economic sclerosis. Labour market rigidity, lack of fiscal probity, and bureaucracy that hinders business creation are issues that monetary policy cannot fix - central bankers have admitted as much.

However, what the ECB has done will likely continue to put pressure on the euro relative to its trading partners, which will help both the economies and companies in the bloc to lower their cost structures and generate higher earnings through their international operations. Consider the earnings of large Japanese companies against a backdrop of a weak yen; they enjoyed a surge in profits (and their stock prices), as the cost of goods sold were cheaper relative to the revenues earned in markets with a stronger currency. For investors, this is one of the primary benefits that likely await eurozone stocks.

The ECB's announcement is not the "silver bullet" that slays deflation. It is the necessary first step on the path to a more durable response to the problems facing the economic bloc. The next steps now fall to the governments in the eurozone to reform labour and business laws and regulations. In some cases, fiscal stimulus will have to be launched to gin up spending from an austerity-battered populace, and workers will have to agree to the reforms so an economic vibrancy can take hold. Wishful thinking, probably - critical, absolutely.

Something to consider: the periphery of the eurozone has been engaged in a grinding austerity for the last seven years; its purpose has been to essentially lower the costs of doing business. Economists call it internal devaluation - everyone else calls it dreadful. This austerity has lowered costs in the periphery. Now with a cheaper currency, the economic bloc has effectively externally devalued, and by combining the impact of the external devaluation on operating costs, the bloc will become more competitive. Against this backdrop, conditions become ripe for the emergence of "green shoots" of economic activity.

From an investor's perspective, the case for eurozone equities remains compelling: earnings are depressed, but costs of doing business have likely been reduced given years of austerity; and a cheaper currency is the catalyst for a lift in earnings - a view we have held for some time.

Recent research from our investment bank colleagues bolsters our point from a technical perspective: sentiment toward European equities is negative, judging from negative investor flows into the market. Based on the performance of defensive sectors relative to cyclical sectors, investors don't think QE will stimulate growth.

Increasingly, if we assess the investor zeitgeist with the euro project, it appears to be running out of time, as a recycling of well-worn concerns, such as Greece's role in the eurozone, demands attention.

Calum Brewster is Head of Wealth & Investment Management, Scotland, Northern Ireland and North England for Barclays Wealth