loop in python

[km]

Hi all,

Why is it that the implementation of empty loop so slow in python when compared to perl ? 

#i did this in python (v 1.5)
for x in xrange(1000):
    print x
# this took 0.017 seconds 
--------------------------
#similar code in perl (v 5.6): 
for $x (0..1000)
{
print $x;
}
# this took 0.005 seconds only  !!!

Is python runtime slow at all aspects when compared to perl ? 
I really wonder what makes python slower than perl ? 
Is there any proposal to make python faster in future versions ? 

curious to know all these ...

regards,
KM