can a lazy language give fast code?

[Scott J.]

Hi,   Can one write withthe Haskell compliler faster code than in the examples of http://www.bagley.org/~doug/shootout/  where GHC (old Haskell 98?) seems to be much slower than Ocaml  or Mlton both strict functional languages. Can one expect any improvements in speed in the future?   Cheers   Scott