Compiled code is faster than interpreted code. C#.NET is a compiled lamguage and doesn't need to be interpreted at runtime. Making is faster than interpreted languages like PHP, Rails, Python etc. These days, some interpreted languages are now cheating and interpret only at first run. Then skip interpret step on subsequent runs.

C#.NET performance is up there with C++. C#.NET is only slower than C++ during garbage collection. When garbage collection is done, it is back in business and running at the same speed.