BEIRUT - Lebanon's economic challenge is restoring confidence not a lack of financial assets, Carlos Ghosn, the former head of Renault and Nissan, told a news conference in Beirut to launch a management training programme at a Lebanese university.

"On paper, the assets are here," he said, saying the challenge facing the nation which is facing an economic crisis that has paralysed its banking industry was "the restoration of confidence."

(Reporting by Samia Nakhoul; Editing by Edmund Blair) ((edmund.blair@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: edmund.blair.thomsonreuters.com@thomsonreuters.net))